


Fall Out of Skyrim

by N3kkra



Series: Fallout/Skyrim Crossover [1]
Category: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: DOES NOT like the Railroad, Deathclaws are pussy dragons, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Smut, F/M, Just wants to go home, Lots of killing, MacCready is way too skinny, Magic, Maxson is a true Son of Skyrim, Only person who could probably take on Liberty Prime with a hand tied behind her back, Slow Burn, There will be shameless smut, getting really tired of fallouts shit, love triangle?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-06
Updated: 2017-03-30
Packaged: 2018-09-22 12:20:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 35
Words: 131,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9607370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/N3kkra/pseuds/N3kkra
Summary: The Dragonborn fell out of Skyrim into a new world and she can't catch a break.All she wants to do is return home to settle down, and end her life of adventuring.But the Commonwealth needs a hero, and the Sole Survivor isn't the man for the job.So Skaddi has to do what she does best: save the world. Another... world....





	1. A Whole New World

**Author's Note:**

> So when Skyrim kick started again I'd gotten really into Fallout and I started to play again. I ended up having to change the controls to suit my Fallout gameplay, and tried to V.A.T.S. everything... turns out that doesn't work in Skyrim. All well, the enemies don't seem QUITE as hard in Tamriel. But anyway. It got me thinking about what if the Dragonborn ended up in the middle of Boston? Well... here it is...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A Whole New World~ Aladdin

            Skaddi hit the ground rolling and smacked something hard and metal. It took her a moment, but when she was able to steady herself, she blinked and found it to be a strange ruin of some sort; short, curved, hollowed, covered in rust, and built in a style she’d never seen before. Her pale blue eyes lifted and widened; towering ruined buildings surrounded her. Her jaw fell sack and she stood up, turning to look around slowly.

            “What was that?”

            The words were short, rough, and almost crude. Skaddi turned at the strange voice and tilted her head, curious. There were two dwarfed giants in patchy armor coming toward her. Before she was able to slip into a shadow the one in front saw her and pointed. “Human!” it shouted loudly to alert the one behind it.

            Quickly, she grabbed the axes on her hips and held them ready, crouching slightly. The first one ran at her with a club, and she sidestepped him easily, taking his legs out from under him in a sweep, sending him to the ground in a tumbling crash. 

            “Ahh! Stupid human!” he shouted in a tongue that made no sense to her ears. She spun and brought both axes down on his bald head.

            _Crack! Crack! Crack!_

            Something struck Skaddi in the back –almost like a arrow but more forceful– she spun around to see the other green-skin was firing an odd crossbow. The bolts were tiny, and they were fast. Skaddi stepped back behind a wall for cover and put her axes away. Reaching up she grabbed her carved Nordic bow and an arrow. It matched the armor she wore and her axes. Use had fit it comfortably to her hand, bringing a small sliver of comfort.

            She bent around the corner and loosed the arrow sending it through the air and struck the green giant in the head, causing his body to go stiff as his head snapped back. His strange crossbow fell to the ground with a light clack and she tilted her head as he tumbled over. Wetting her lips, the nord returned her bow to her back and looked around to see if any other strange creatures would show themselves in this foreign land.

            Skaddi kneeled to check the body of the one that had the club first and found small, coin shaped items. They were red on one side and silver on the other with a strange curved edge and a white inscription on the scarlet surface. There were quite a number of them piled together in a small sack like she carried her gold, so she decided to keep it, figuring they may be of some value. When she made it over to the other body she picked up the crossbow and turned it around in her hands.            Whispering in her tongue on how odd it was, she glared at it thoughtfully and pointed it, pulling the trigger and nearly dropped it. It made a loud clap of a sound when it fired –burning her ear– and jerked back hard enough to hurt her wrist. She didn’t even see where the bolts were put to reload it. S turned it in her grasp and then pulled the trigger again out of curiosity. It fired and Skaddi frowned, narrowing her eyes at it.

            Whispering in her tongue on how odd it was, she glared at it thoughtfully and pointed it, pulling the trigger and nearly dropped it. It made a loud clap of a sound when it fired –burning her ear– and jerked back hard enough to hurt her wrist. She didn’t even see where the bolts were put to reload it. Turning it in her grasp, she decided to pull the trigger again out of curiosity. It fired and Skaddi frowned, narrowing her eyes at it. It still jumped more than she was used to and seemed much too loud to be efficient. 

            She caught the movement behind her; quiet, subtle, but her hunter ears honed in on it and she spun around, lifting an axe while she held the crossbow at the ground. There was a man in a strange cloak and hat. He was kneeling, pointing a blunt spear at her, but peered down it like one would a crossbow.

            “No way, look at you, you’re like Grognak’s girlfriend,” he smiled and she narrowed her brows at him, unable to understand his foreign words.

            She asked who he was in her own language, prompting him to lift a brow and she repeated herself. He shook his head.

            “Yeah, I can’t understand you, Femme-Ra,” he stood up slowly and lifted his hands in a way that Skaddi knew in her land as surrender. Her eyes narrowed and she lowered her axe. “Where are you from?”

            Skaddi wished she understood him, and then she blinked and sighed, remembering she had been taught a spell for this at the College of Winterhold. She lifted her free hand once she’d placed the axe back on her hip and a black orb surrounded by blue mist appeared. The man’s eyebrows shot up and he took half a step back, his spear coming up slightly. Then she closed her fist and the orb fanned out into a disk, hovering above her clasped fingers. She looked at him, her brows tugged together. “Can you understand me?” she asked and the man’s mouth fell sack.

            “I… uh, yeah,” he blinked and stepped forward, his blue eyes locked on the disk as it spun. She wouldn’t be able to hold it there forever.

            “Who are you? What is this place?” she asked. She was just as tall as him, but much thicker, even if she wouldn’t have had her armor on.

            “Really? You… don’t know where you are?” he looked confused. “This is the Commonwealth. Where are you from?”

            “Skyrim,” she answered easily, then frowned. “Sort of. Actually, an island called Solstheim, but I have spent the last year in Skyrim.”

            “Never heard of it,” he shrugged. “That where you got that funny armor?”

            “Funny?” Mildly offended, Skaddi shifted her weight and tossed the crossbow away from her and clenched her now free fist.

            “Oh, sorry,” he raised his hands, the blunted spear held oddly in his hand. She focused on the way his fingers were wrapped around it. It had a trigger like a crossbow. “I didn’t mean to upset you, it’s just… no one wears stuff like that around here.”

            “It’s a unique style of blacksmithing that takes _years_ to perfect,” she grunted and he nodded.

            “Yeah, totally, blacksmithing…. So, uh, do you… like, take a lot of drugs?”

            “Drugs?” her brows jerked together and she took a step toward him, looking into his eyes carefully. “Like skooma? _Never_.” She hissed the word through clenched teeth. Then looked him over, his pale eyes judging. “What of you then? Where is your armor?”

            “I’m a sniper, generally I don’t need it,” he smiled with a sense of pride that Skaddi didn’t understand. Then he shifted his spear. “This here is my sniper rifle.”

            “I do not understand,” she glared. “What is a sniper?”

            “I shoot things from really far away.”

            “Like a hunter?”

            He rolled his shoulders in a shrug. “Yeah, I guess you could use that word. Sharpshooter is a little more accurate… but if we’re doing this whole old-timey thing then…”

            The spell in her hand faded and she sighed. Her magicka was exhausted, and it gave her a dull ache in the back of her head. His eyes locked on her hand as the black disk faded away and the mist evaporated.

            “What’s that all about?” he waved at her hand and she shook her head and told him she didn’t understand. He frowned and she knew he didn’t either.

            The nord held a fist over her heart and said, “Skaddi.”

            He nodded and pressed his thumb to his own chest, “MacCready.”

            She nodded and repeated the name softly. MacCready cleared his throat and then made a gesture with his hand like she had to cast her spell. “What was that?”

            Skaddi didn’t understand him but guessed he was asking her to cast the spell again. She tried and quickly said, “I don’t have the energy to keep the spell up.”

            “Spell?” his eyes widened as he looked at the disk and then at her face.

            “Aye, it’s a translator,” she clarified and it faded away. His brows frowned and she nodded her shared disappointment.

            They stood there awkwardly for a moment and she shifted where she stood, watching him carefully. He seemed like he was just as confused and uncomfortable. So many questions ran through her mind that she wanted to be answered. Where was the Commonwealth? What was it? Who built it? How far from Skyrim was it? What were those green-skinned half-giants?

            “You hungry?” he asked suddenly and made a motion with his hand to his mouth as if he were eating. She guessed he was asking if she had food.

            Skaddi reached around to her back, under her two-handed sword and bow was a small pack she kept her things in. She pulled out a loaf of bread and stepped toward him. He looked at her in surprise and she realized she misunderstood what he’d said, but he took the bread now that she offered it and looked it over. Then he broke a piece off and popped it in his mouth. She watched his face as he chewed and his eyes widened.

            “Never had bread like that before,” he commented and she tilted her head. He nodded, seeming to remember she couldn’t understand him, and then looked around. “Should, uh… probably find cover, it gets pretty dark in the city.” This time when he spoke he didn’t seemed to actually direct it at her, and he turned, starting to walk away from her. But he waved over his shoulder for her to follow so she did.

            As they walked MacCready continued to eat the bread, seeming like a child with a sweetroll, and Skaddi stared around, eyes wide. She couldn’t keep her mouth shut from the sheer shock at the architectural accomplishments of this land, as well as the severe devastation it seemed to have suffered from. Her magicka replenished slower here, she noticed, but when she thought she had enough, she threw up her translation orb again and asked, “What happened here?”

            “A bomb, about… two hundred years ago?”

            “You haven’t rebuilt?” she frowned at him.

            “It’s a bit harder than you’d think, you don’t know what a bomb is, do you?” he lifted a brow at her, pausing next to a long, hollow metal structure filled with skeletons sitting in odd seats –like a cart with more seating and no horse. She looked at them and then him.

            “No.”

            “Well, it’s bad, really big, and explodes,” he frowned deeply, his eyebrows coming together to pucker the flesh between them. “It killed almost everyone, and… really messed up the world.”

            “So what do you do now?”

            “Survive.”

            She let the orb fall away, ending the conversation. She didn’t need anymore from him at the moment. Surviving was something that Skaddi understood, something she’d had to do most of her life, ever since she learned she was different than those in her tribe, and a year ago when she discovered she was Dragonborn. How could she live a normal life when it was her destiny to save Skyrim from the threat of the World Eater? When she had to help stop a war that tore the land apart? When she joined guilds to further her knowledge and ability to take her enemy? Never again would she be able to sleep at night without waking up to having something do.

            Now she had to find a way to get back home. And she didn’t think she would find that following this man to wherever he was ‘surviving’.

            Skaddi threw up the orb again and stopped walking. “I need to return to Skyrim.”

            MacCready paused and glanced back at her. “I don’t know about you but I have no idea how to do that.”

            “I assume the way is not where you’re guiding me,” she countered and he lifted his hands.

            “Hey, you don’t have to follow me, but you apparently don’t know sh–” he stopped himself and sighed. “You don’t know anything about this place, so I don’t think it’d be smart of you to just run around.”

            “What were you doing when you found me?” she gestured loosely in the direction they’d come.

            “Trying to get some caps together,” he frowned and put the spear he called a sniper rifle on his back. “The super mutants you killed had a bounty on them. Mayor Hancock pays a pretty cap for their deaths to keep them from raiding Goodneighbor.”

            “Does this Mayor Hancock have authority then?”

            “Yeah, he’s a mayor, though I guess you wouldn’t know what that is since you’re…” he waved at her. “Um… a chief? I guess, not really a king, he’s just in charge of one town.”

            “I understand,” she waved a hand and he sighed. “Take me to him then, I wish to speak with him.”

            “Great, the 'take me to your leader line'.... I don’t know what he’ll be able to give you that I can’t, but whatever, at least I know he’ll get a kick out of you.” She dropped her orb and they continued on until they reached a door in a crudely made wall. Next to it was an arrow and some letters she couldn’t read. She’d just barely learned how to read in her own tongue, and trying to do so in another language wasn’t realistic.

            When they stepped inside she was greeted with the smell of piss and trash. The smell was foreign, but she knew trash when she smelt it, like the gutters of lower districts in cities, or even the Grey Quarter of Windhelm. She always felt bad for the dark elves down there, but she could never spend more than a few minutes in the repulsive place. This wasn’t as bad, but it was not what she had hoped for when finding a ‘city’ as MacCready called it.

            “Hey, Mac, who’s your friend?” a man in strange clothes came up to the sniper. She watched him carefully. He held one of those crossbow looking weapons, though this one had a disk hanging down below it. Her brows narrowed as she looked it over, watching how he held it across his chest, point at the ground. On his head was a round hat with a flat brim, something she’d never seen before, but as she looked around seemed fairly common here.

            “She’s new around her, I wouldn’t get too close, she killed two green-skins with those axes of hers,” MacCready replied, and Skaddi resisted bringing out her translation orb to know what they were talking about. The sniper had seemed pretty surprised by it, and she could only imagine what the city would do if they knew of her magic.

            “She’s a cute one,” the man continued and Skaddi stepped up beside them. Her pale eyes searching the sniper’s face, she wanted to get going, to meet Mayor Hancock. The man before them couldn't be someone of authority, and if he was, she didn't think she wanted to deal with him. He smelled of smoke and alcohol, and the twisted smile on his lips was polite, but hid something that lurked in the dull brown of his eyes. MacCready glanced at her sideways and he sighed.

            “I gotta go; she wants to talk to Hancock.”

            “She doesn’t speak English?”

            “Nah, some weird language like you’d see in a Grognak comic,” he chuckled and the man laughed prompting Skaddi to glare at them both. The sniper noticed her expression first, “Oops, better get going before she gets pissed and decides to use those axes on me.”

            “All right, bring her my way if she… needs some company though, yeah?”

            “Shut up,” the sniper waved off the other man and resumed their walk, Skaddi didn’t like how they talked, she didn’t have to understand them to know they were talking about her.

            MacCready led the way up a brick path to a white door in a narrow ally. Skaddi only took a moment to look around and notice what she could only assume were stores facing the entrance and then more allies headed deeper between the towering buildings. Cities in Skyrim were far more open, their streets sprawling wide with cobblestone walkways and foliage, but this place looked dead and disgusting, the only things that were alive were running around on two or four legs. When the sniper opened the door he stepped inside and then waited for her, not bothering to hold it for her. She whispered an off-handed comment about chivalry being as dead as the landscape and stepped into the dark, smoke-filled room.

            A spiral staircase crowded the entry, and the sniper moved to allow her more space as she had more need with her thick armor. He ascended the stairs shortly after and Skaddi followed, frowning as she skimmed her fingers over the rough wood railing. A splinter would almost be guaranteed if she weren’t wearing her gauntlets.

            At the top of the stairs, the man immediately turned and headed for a double doorway that stood open to show off strange red couches and a table with an assortment of items she couldn’t identify. A woman in thick, rusty-looking armor that seemed to be made of the same metal that built the trash-walls at the front gate, sat in one of the cushions. She was reclined so that she could see them coming and held something burning in her hand. The way she put it to her lips resembled how one smoked a pipe, but she’d never seen someone do it with a small white stick like this woman was.

            “Hancock, got someone who wanted to meet you,” the sniper said, coming to a stop beside the couch the woman was sitting in to look at a red coat with its back to her. Her eyes narrowed as the man wearing it turned around. He was more of a draugr than a man, with skin withered away, and his nose missing, but his eyes were black rather than glowing blue, telling her he was not a reanimated dead. His red coat was showy, something someone with money and no need to work would wear in Skyrim. It didn’t look like it offered any protection, especially in the chest where the frill parted enough she could see his bare flesh. On top of his bald head was a three-cornered hat with the forward facing point lined up with the hole where his nose should have been.

            His lips curled into a smile as he looked at her and he spoke to the man without breaking eye contact. The grin was humorous, somehow lighting up his pitch eyes, and raised no alarm in her, despite her first impression of him. “Well, well, well, another freak to add to the show. Where’d you find this one, MacCready? She doesn’t even look high…” his words were unfamiliar, but his voice was low, gruff, and gravely.

            “Out killing super mutants with those axes –by Hangman’s Ally.”

            “She want the reward then?” the withered man came forward and looked at the sniper now. Though Skaddi couldn’t understand what they were saying she knew it was about her, again, but the tone was different than from the man outside. She could tell already she would like this man in red more than the man outside.

            “Didn’t bring it up actually. She’s lost and wants to go back to where she’s from. She called it… um, Skyland, or something.”

            Skaddi tilted her head at Hancock when he looked back at her. “She not speak English?”

            “Nope,” the sniper answered the wrinkly man’s question. “At least that she lets on, she has a… translator, or something. I’m still not sure if it’s all a hoax or not.”

            “Where’s her translator?”

            MacCready stepped over to Skaddi, beginning to get frustrated that she didn’t understand them, she frowned at him with brow and lip. He lifted his hand and waved it like she did to get the spell to appear and she narrowed her eyes at the woman on the couch, then looked back at the guard by the stairwell. She could take them if she needed to.

            Skaddi cast the spell, and Mayor Hancock took a step back, laughing heartily. “Well shit, I must be tripping.” His withered hand fell over his chest as if to grab his heart. 

            “I don’t know what that means,” Skaddi frowned and he met her gaze, nodding, his smile stuck in place. It was hard to follow his black eyes as they roamed her, but she managed.

            “You’re real, ain’t’cha, doll?” he lifted a hairless brow and she narrowed hers to the point it hurt.

            “I am no doll, I am a Skaal hunter, Thane of the Nine Holds of Skyrim, Harbinger of the Companions, Leader of the Thieves Guild, Listener of the Dark Brotherhood, Champion of Ulfric Stormcloak the true High King, as well as four daedric princes.” She couldn’t help but be offended by his choice of words, and she knew as she spoke the man was lost as to what she was saying despite understanding the words. They held no meaning to him. Her jaw clenched. “I am Dragonborn, defeater of Alduin the World Eater, and I will not be referred to as a child’s toy.”

            Hancock raised his hands in surrender, “All right, all right, no need to get offended. It’s a term of endearment, honestly.” When she didn't seem pleased, he nodded. “So you wanted to talk about returning to Skyland?”

            “Skyrim,” she corrected through clenched teeth and he nodded.

            “Skyrim, yeah,” he glared sideways at MacCready who shrugged with a small grin. “I’m afraid I ain’t heard of it, dol–uh, what… should I call you? I don’t remember half what you just spewed out.”

            “Skaddi is my name. Skaddi Ice-Hunter.”

            “Okay, Skaddi then,” he nodded and relaxed his skinny arms. Her wrist was the same size as the thickest part of his arm. For the love of the divines, her thigh was nearly as wide as his torso, and his shoulders would just come even to the width of the narrowest part of her waist. He was even skinnier than MacCready. Did this land suffer so that its people could not eat? She remembered how much the sniper seemed to enjoy her bread and nodded, figuring that was evidence enough.

            “You know this land well, seeing that you reign over it, you should be able to tell me where my best chance of returning home is,” she explained, ignoring the growing ache in the back of her skull from the magicka use.

            “I don’t reign, Skaddi, I… govern, and I’m only in charge of Goodneighbor, anything passed those walls and all I got is my outstanding charisma, ya feel me?” he tilted that bald head of his, the three-cornered black hat sitting on it making the movement more dramatic. Before she could tell him she had no wish to touch him, he continued, “I can’t really do much of anything but point you in the direction of someone else who might be better… suited to tell you how this kind of shit works.”

            “Who?” the Skaal woman asked, lifting her chin as her interest peaked.


	2. What's this?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shit hits the fan at the RailRoad... fast and bloody...  
> If you like the RailRoad, this is not the chapter for you, I am... really sorry....  
> Please don't hate me...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's This ~Nightmare Before Christmas

            Skaddi spun, both of her axes flying smoothly through the air as she cut down the ‘feral ghouls’ as MacCready called them. He seemed to hate them with more reasoning than just they were trying to kill him. She didn’t say anything, though.

            Hancock had pointed them toward an outfit called the Railroad, and they were instructed to ‘follow the freedom trail’. This meant that MacCready had to show her where it was and read all the ‘clues’ left on things called manhole covers or something. She thought it was nonsense, but noticed a similarity to the Thieves Guild in the form of operation.

            The trail ended at a smaller white building with a green statue of a man riding a horse. He wore clothing much like Hancock’s, which she found intriguing as every other person she saw –other than MacCready– seemed to be wearing patchy, rusty armor. It was almost pathetic, and she found it too easy to cut into the bandits that attacked them on their way. Almost all of them used those strange crossbows, which MacCready called guns. The projectiles bounced off her armor or got wedged in it. One hit her arm, but she used a healing spell and her flesh pushed it out quickly.

            The building was called a church, and they went inside to find beings that were faintly similar to what Hancock was, which she now knew was a creature called a ghoul. It made no difference to her, the moment they ran at her, she sprung into action, seeing them as no different than draugr. But these bodies moved so much faster, and rather than wielding weapons, they bit and hurled themselves, flailing their arms like clubs. They did nothing against her armor though, and she laughed at their efforts, cutting them apart as the sniper sat back and fired calculated shots from a distance. He had some skill, she noticed, hitting each of his targets in the head, something she would never be able to do with a crossbow. If she were to use her bow she may be able to manage it, but she decided not to bring up the man’s shooting.

            They now were in the basement of the building and he was pondering the notes he’d taken on the hints.

            “It’s a code, but… I’ve never been good at this kind of stuff,” he frowned and turned to her. She was holding up the translator as he spoke. She looked over his shoulder, able to understand the words as well as she could her own tongue, and frowned.

            “I cannot read well,” she confessed.

            “Well, looks like we’ll be here a while then,” he sighed and started to turn a disk on the wall. She tilted her head at it. It looked a lot like the manhole covers outside.

            “What will you try?”

            “Probably just try ‘Railroad’ first, I mean… can’t hurt, right?”

            “Unless it triggers a trap,” she agreed and turned around looking at the dim room.

            “Oh, thanks for that.” She got the feeling he didn’t mean it, so she simply shrugged and let the spell fall away while he turned the disk and pressed the center. As he did this, she knelt beside the body of her most recent kill and looked over it. It smelled like a corpse that had sat in a damp cave, and it nearly popped with how soft it was under her axes. Its bones were weak and crippled easily. Her nose wrinkled as she tilted the face to the side using the blade of her axe. “Well, that was surprisingly easy,” she heard the man breath as the sound of stone rubbing against stone echoed down the tunnels of the church basement. Skaddi turned around, noting it was similar to that of the dragon claw doors in Skyrim, but it was only apart of the wall sliding out of the way.

            Skaddi came to his side and grabbed her axes, glancing at him sideways. He didn’t take his weapon from his back, instead he stepped forward into the darkness on the other side of the hole created by the wall opening. She followed, her arms held ready.

            The Railroad was more like the Thieves Guild than Skaddi had originally thought. They even used the words ‘work in the shadows’. The woman in charge, Desdemona, had two people flanking her as MacCready and Skaddi came into the darkness. The darkness was quickly chased away by bright lights that flashed on, blinding Skaddi and MacCready. They were lucky that Skaddi had her axes equipped, not her bow, as she would have loosed an arrow without meaning to and probably killed the young man to the woman’s left. On Desdemona’s other side was a woman with dark skin and white hair, holding a heavy weapon than Skaddi guessed was another kind of gun.

            She was about tired of these guns. Why did no one use their own hands? It seemed cowardly to her that they all stood back and let the guns kill their targets. She only used her bow when she felt her axes weren’t enough, so she could always see her target’s face and they could see hers. The people in this land seemed not to care about their honor.

            Desdemona questioned MacCready, who eventually motioned for Skaddi to use her translation spell. She explained who she was, giving them the same titles she’d given Hancock, and that she needed to get back home. The three of them were very interested, and she was quickly ushered into their headquarters. MacCready took his leave, then, to her surprise.

            Skaddi frowned at the sniper. “You’re going to leave me with these people?”

            “Hey, you can obviously handle yourself,” he gave her a grin. “I don’t much care for them, but that’s personal. Hancock trusts them, so I know you’ll be safe with them. Just…” he sighed and tilted his head. “Keep being you.”

            “I can be no one else,” she said and he nodded.

            “Hope I’ll see you around, then again,” he chuckled, “Hope you get home.”

            “Thank you, MacCready. And I hope you find what you’re looking for in life,” she offered him a smile and he blinked at her, before nodding and tipping his hat, departing with a single glance over his shoulder at her. Skaddi noticed a couple of agents follow him out.

            Left with strangers, Skaddi kept her hands close to her axes and allowed her eyes to flicker across anything and everything in sight. She was taken down another hidden hallway and into a crypt that had been turned into a living and work space. There were lights and tables and desks everywhere with objects she couldn’t name sitting on them in all shapes and sizes. Her lips parted in surprise, and she didn’t miss how Desdemona watched her.

            The woman stopped once they were in the center of it all, and turned to face her, making a gesture with her hand that prompted Skaddi to lift and call on her spell.

            “I’ll need you to take an agent with you back to where you showed up when you came here. Once you’re there we’ll mark it and do what we can to get the information needed to return you home,” she said with a comforting smile.

            “I am grateful,” the Skaal woman bowed her head slightly and Desdemona nodded.

            “We’re here to help, and you need help,” she shrugged. “It matters not what you are, we help our fellow man.”

            “What I am?” her brows pulled together.

            She chuckled. “My dear, you could be any number of things. We help synths primarily here. We get them out of, and away from the Institute. We give them new names, new memories, new _lives_. Most of them never even know about us,” she shifted her weight and gestured to Skaddi. “For all we know you’re a synth that was given memories you believe to be real.”

            “What is a synth?” Skaddi’s brows pulled together.

            “A person created by machines rather than born, but still a person,” she said and Skaddi nodded her understanding, but she found it hard to believe. “They’re given memories that they believe are real…”

            “You think I am one of these synths? Because I am from a place you do not know?”

            A man in a white coat stepped forward, he'd been in the background for most of their talking, but Skaddi paid him little mind as he looked like any other agent here –at least to her. “It makes sense,” he gestured to her and Skaddi frowned at him. “Really there’s no other explanation for why you think you’re from this ‘Skyrim’,” he lifted his hands to curl his fingers on the last word. Skaddi didn’t know what that meant, but she felt it was very disrespectful toward the land she now called home.

            “What of my magic? What of my abilities?” she asked, straightening up some so that her shoulders squared, gesturing to the spell she was holding. He regarded it with a shrug.

            “Magic does not _exist_. Whatever is causing… that,” he gestured to her hand, “Is some sort of technology you’re probably hiding from view.”

            Desdemona stepped forward, “Abilities?”

            “I have a strong, inborn Thu’um. I could send you across this room using three words. Or set you to fire…” her brows came down. “Among other things.”

            “With only words?” the man looked unconvinced, smirking slightly before glancing at Desdemona.

            “Yes, _with only words_. I syphon the souls of dragons, using them to learn words of power!” She took a step toward him and glared heavily into his round eyes.

            He nodded then and turned to the orange haired woman. “I would like to amend my opinion. This woman is nothing more than a common chem addict. And that’s being optimistic; she could be working for the Institute as a spy.”

            Skaddi growled in frustration. Her fists drew up and she shouted at the man, “ _Fus Ro Dah!_ ”

            The affect was a thundering sound that shook the entire building and sent everything in front of Skaddi –including the man and Desdemona– flying into the brick wall on the other side of the room.

            There were many things that Skaddi had done in her life that she regretted. Among the top was killing Paarthurnax for the Blades only to be disappointed in what they had to offer her later. Under that was sacrificing Faendal –a wood elf who put his full trust in her– to a daedric prince for a piece of armor she never even wore. But now, as she stood in the middle of the headquarters of the Railroad, Skaddi realized she’d made a huge mistake.

            By the time Skaddi had come to the last thought, a scream behind her made her turn to see the dark skinned woman with white hair. Skaddi grabbed her axe with her right hand and summoned a spell with her left. The woman was readying her heavy gun to attack, so the Skaal prepared herself. She cast a familiar, and then held up a healing spell, knowing she was going to need it ready.

            The spectral wolf was as large as a person, and leapt toward Desdemona and the man as Skaddi ran for the exit. The dark woman with white hair blocked the way, her heavy, black gun weighing her down as she narrowed her gaze. The point of the gun was spinning quickly. Skaddi picked up speed, running right at her with her axe up and her spell activated.

            The weapon was straight from Oblivion. It tore through her armor and into her flesh as fast as her spell could heal her. Skaddi nearly tripped as her knee was shattered then healed. Anger pushed her forward and she called on her inborn power as a nord, the battlecry that struck fear into the strongest of foes.

            When her lips parted the sound was ungodly, echoing through the crypt, touching every ear in it, but she was focused on the woman in front of her. Skaddi smiled when she gasped, dropping the horrid weapon and turned to run. The Dragonborn loved when her prey ran.

            The feared woman ran up the stairs, quickly toward the entrance that Skaddi had come down with MacCready. Skaddi took the steps three at a time and gained quickly on the woman, switching out her healing spell for the other axe. The dark woman was able to get into the tunnels before she took a turn too fast and hit the wall, tripped over a small red box made of metal, and fell to the ground.

            Skaddi came up behind her and allowed the woman to climb to her feet and try to resume running before the Dragonborn stepped forward, swinging her axe to cut the tendon in the back of the woman’s leg. Her armor was heavy-duty cloth that Skaddi’s axe slid right through, especially in this soft spot. The woman cried out and fell to her knees and Skaddi walked around her, to allow her to see the face of the woman who was going to kill her.

            The Skaal woman crossed her axes on either side of the woman’s head and then pulled them apart. Blood sprayed up onto Skaddi as she glared down at the headless body that remained up right for a moment before falling aside with a heavy thud. She flicked her axes to shake off the blood, and then heard the dying cry of her familiar. The others would be coming soon, so she lowered herself into a prepared crouch and took a deep breath.

            Only one battle had unnerved Skaddi. It had been the Battle for Whiterun, when she turned her back on Jarl Bulgruuf in favor of Ulfric Stormcloak. It was her guilt that had made her skills wane. There had been so little time between Bulgruuf naming her Thane and her bending her knee to Ulfric. The Jarl had been horrified to see her among the men who breached his hall and forced him from his throne. She couldn’t even look at him as he spewed curses at her on his way out.

            Skaddi held no loyalty to the Railroad, and it made killing them that much easier. It was no different to her than clearing a bandit camp. She would remember this only because of the nature it happened, the faces would blur in her memory, and she wouldn’t even remember the name of the organization in a year or two.

            “What the hell–?”

            Skaddi spun around and glared at MacCready, nearly throwing her axe at him before she saw his eyes grow wide and his hands lift in surrender. She hissed in her native tongue to him, but he shook his head.

            “I leave you alone for five minutes…” he pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. Skaddi looked up the hallway, and then stepped up to him. She asked if he was going to help her, but he frowned at her, unable to understand. “I can’t believe you…” he sighed and looked down at the white haired head at his feet. “Well, better finish this off or they’ll just come after us…”

            The first one that Skaddi saw when she turned was a man, and then a woman followed in behind him. Both stood back, took cover, and then fired on her with those small guns that annoyed her so. Skaddi growled and called them craven, though they couldn’t understand her. She took cover behind a brick pillar and exchanged her axes for her bow, bending around the column to aim at the man. MacCready knelt in front of her, his sniper rifle held up and ready. The man stuck his head out to shoot at her, but her arrow found his eye socket, and he fell to the ground, causing the woman beside him to scream. MacCready shot her.

            More filled the hallway, and she fired another arrow, this one getting someone in the neck. One more arrow –piercing a man directly in the side, under his arm, and probably puncturing his heart– and she switched out her bow for two hands filled with fire balls. Throwing them one at a time, they flew down the tunnel into the cluster of people and exploded causing screams and cries of pain. MacCready stared at her, mouth sack, and gun limp in his hand.

            Skaddi grabbed her axes and ran toward the group, taking projectiles in her exposed flesh. Her armor was broken and near useless now from the heavy black gun. Someone had picked it up and was trying to get it started, but it looked like they couldn’t get it reloaded. She laughed loudly and stopped where she was, halfway down the tunnel.

            “ _Yol Toor Shul!_ ” she shouted and the tunnel was engulfed in fire so hot that Skaddi stepped back to keep from harming herself.

            Burning flesh filled her nose, and she wrinkled it in response, lifting a hand to shield her eyes from the glare of the flames as it caught on everyone and everything in the brick tunnel. She couldn’t hear anything over the screams of the burning Railroad agents. Skaddi readied her axes as a man charged her, but he fell quickly when she cut open his charred belly to spill his insides at his feet. Behind him was a man who tried to run away, but she cut his leg out from under him, sending him to the dirt. She let him remain there, rolling around, trying to put out the flames.

            Skaddi strode forward and looked around, at the burning wooden crates and vines that had filled the halls, at the bodies that curled up on the ground, dying. She turned and saw Desdemona where she had been when she greeted Skaddi and MacCready not twenty minutes ago. The Dragonborn spun her axes in her hands and came forward, her head bowed so she looked at the leader of the Railroad through her brows.

            The woman lifted her black weapon. It was bigger than most of the others, but not as big as the one that had destroyed her armor. She smirked and the woman fired.

            The projectile caught Skaddi in the arm and pushed her back two steps with the force. The Skaal hissed and dropped one of her axes to the ground to summon up a spell and healed herself as another spike came flying through the air, hitting her in the shoulder. Skaddi growled and called the woman all of the worst insults she had from her homeland.

            The woman didn’t speak, instead, she stepped back and fired again. But Skaddi could see the fear in her eyes growing as she came forward, the spell pushing the long spikes out of her just as quickly as they’d been fired. So she aimed higher, for her face, for her hand holding the spell. Skaddi didn’t like that, so she started running forward, shifting back and forth to make herself a harder target. In only a moment she was within range of the woman and swung her axe.

            Desdemona leapt back and tried to fire again, but she was out, and scrambled to reload. Skaddi laughed and lashed out her foot to kick the weapon away from her and send it to the ground. Desdemona said something, but Skaddi shook her head and dropped her other axe to the ground in favor of the two handed sword on her back.

            Skaddi swung it low, putting Desdemona on her hands and knees when her shins were split in half. The woman cried out in agony, her head rising to allow the sound out easier and more directly. This made the perfect angle, and Skaddi lifted the greatsword up to remove the woman’s head in a swift drop.

            “Hey, Dez! What the hell happened downstairs?”

            Right as the sword sliced through Desdemona’s neck and her body fell to the ground. A man in a white shirt and strange eye shields came around the corner from the head quarters. His jaw dropped as he saw Skaddi, and she straightened up to look back at him. His face turned slightly and she knew he was looking out into the tunnel where burned bodies littered the floor at MacCready’s feet. His hands began to shake and his pale brows tugged together.

            He had seen the devastation below, but he thought it’d passed, that his people had handled it. How wrong he was.

            Skaddi held the two-handed sword in one hand and lifted the translation disk up with the other. “My name is Skaddi Ice-Hunter, Dragonborn, defeater of Alduin the World Eater. Prepare yourself, for just as the rest of the Railroad has fallen, so shall you.”


	3. I Wanna Be Like You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skaddi and MacCready made it to Cambridge Police Station.  
> Finally someone who wears heavy armor!  
> And... someone wearing a blue and yellow suit?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I Wanna Be Like You ~The Jungle Book

            Skaddi kicked the last of the feral ghouls to the muddy ground and dropped her axe into its head. She sneered at it, anger swelling in her chest enough to nearly put her into a blood-rage, but she came down quickly when the sound of heavy metal moving behind her approached. The Skaal woman turned and looked up through the rain at the massive man in heavy armor. It looked almost dwarven, but with less decoration and was the color of steel.

            “We appreciate the assistance, civilians. But what’s your business here?”

            Her jaw clenched and she took a deep breath, putting away her axes and watching him put his gun away. The weapon he used was unlike any she’d seen yet, it fired red beams from it like magic, and made a wonderful hum. It was far more to her liking than the ugly cracks that other guns made.

            MacCready slung his sniper rifle over his shoulder onto his back and glared at the armored man in a way that she knew to be personal distain. It was a similar look Imperial soldiers gave Stormcloaks, and vice versa.

            Skaddi eyed the man and lifted a brow at him, trying to decide if she wanted to show her magic yet or not. He seemed annoyed by her silence and added, “If you aren’t going to answer you’re free to go.”

            She didn’t understand him, and MacCready nodded before turning to leave, wordlessly. Skaddi frowned at him and lifted an empty hand to summon her translation spell. “I am Skaddi Ice-Hunter. This is MacCready.” The sniper sighed and turned back around to come back to her side.

            The large man took a step back in surprise at the black disk that spun above her hand and his brows narrowed. “What sort of weapon is that?” She didn’t miss her companion’s smirk at the larger man’s reaction.

            “It is no weapon, it’s a spell that allows us to understand each other, otherwise…” she let the disk fade and finished her sentence; causing him to narrow his gaze again and look at her suspiciously. His dark eyes shifted to her company, before falling back on her. When she called upon it again he stood his ground and she added, “I am far from home and do not know this land. I have been under near constant fire since my arrival.”

            A flash of sympathy crossed his eyes and he stood a little straighter. “I’m Paladin Danse, Brotherhood of Steel. Over there is Scribe Haylen and Knight Rhys. We’re on recon duty, but I’m down a man and our supplies are running low. If you want to continue to pitch in, we could use extra guns on our side.”

            “I don’t use guns,” she corrected and patted the axe on her hip. “I keep things simple.” He gave a single nod of understanding, but again looked at MacCready who was being _very_ quiet. She knew the ranks he listed. Scribes were smart, people of learning and sometimes magic and healing while knights and paladins were warriors. Paladins were knights of the light, and good. Holy in some ways. Finally, something she understood. “I will continue to help you, Paladin,” she decided and ignored the disgruntled sound her sniper made.

            “I’ve been trying to send a distress single to my superiors, but the signal’s too weak to reach them,” he explained and she knew that he had to be talking about technology beyond her knowledge.

            “Sir, if I may?” the woman spoke, standing from where she had been kneeling beside a man. The Dragonborn looked at them both now and narrowed her brows. The woman wore thick cloth clothing with heavy packs on her back and a strange brimmed hood. The man was wearing a second skin of cloth that was orange and cream in color. It would prove useless as armor she was sure.

            “Proceed, Haylen,” the Paladin ordered.

            “I’ve modified the radio tower on the roof of the police station, but I’m afraid it just isn’t enough. What we need is something that will boost the signal.” Skaddi’s eyes were locked on the man in the thin clothing. He was squeezing his eyes shut and pressing his head into the slick stone wall behind him as he held his side and breathed heavily. He was in pain.

            The Skaal started forward, ignoring the Paladin as he started to speak. “Our target is ArcJet Systems, and it contains the technology we need…”

            He stopped speaking when he fully realized she wasn’t listening. The Scribe narrowed her eyes into a glare and watched as the black disk faded away and a golden orb took its place.

            “What is that?”

            Skaddi didn’t understand them, but said the word _heal_ in her own tongue, knowing it would confuse them just as much. The Scribe made no move on her when she turned the orb over the Knight’s side where his red blood stained his suit. He let out a stunned breath and glared at her, but there was relief behind it, and he gasped a relaxed breath as the rib he’d broken set back in place and the wound closed.

            “What the fuck?” he barked and started to back away from her but Skaddi glared and leaned forward to keep the spell going. The woman pushed Skaddi out of the way and the Dragonborn leapt up straightening so that she towered over the Scribe. Behind her MacCready drew his gun and aimed carefully between the Scribe and Knight. She lifted the translation orb again and the disk fanned out.

            “I was healing him.”

            “You were–” the woman started, then looked down at the knight. She was surprised to see the Skaal’s words were true.

            “Do you not know magic, Scribe?”

            “N–no…” she stuttered and they both looked up to see the Paladin come forward, his thick black brows knitted together tightly. “How did you…?”

            “I studied at the College of Winterhold for a time. I turned down the position of Arch-mage and Head of the College as I sought adventure rather than…” she shrugged. “It appears that if I would have done less of that I would not have found myself here, though.”

            “Where is Winterhold? I’ve never heard of it,” the woman commented.

            Skaddi frowned and thought for a moment. “If the province of Skyrim is unknown to you then I cannot tell you.”

            There was a long moment of silence and then the Knight spoke up. “She looks like she’s out of a comic book and she knows magic, I _don’t_ trust her.” MacCready chuckled, earning him a stare from everyone before the Paladin spoke.

            “It would be unwise to let her out of our sight,” he frowned and Skaddi stiffened. Flashbacks to mere days ago with the Railroad flooded into her mind and her hand twitched toward her weapon.

            The Railroad was all but destroyed –the man in the white shirt and eye shields got away with the man who’d doubted her. MacCready held her back, explaining they knew the place well, and she didn’t stand a chance. She wasn’t stupid, she knew when to back down, so she followed his advice and they left.

            “I have nearly wiped out the Railroad already,” she warned, her voice low. “I suggest you do _not_ try to contain me against my will.”

            “She’s not kidding,” MacCready spoke for the first time.

            The Scribe lifted her hands, “No, nothing like that! We just… we want to know where you come from, and understand what you can do.” She looked genuine, and Skaddi shifted her eyes to the Paladin.

            “You will not be held against your will,” he swore, bowing his head slightly. She nodded and looked down at the Knight who glared at her. How thankful he was. “Rhys, once you’re on your feet, I want you to make certain that the perimeter is secure. Haylen, head inside and take stock of our supplies.” He turned to Skaddi, and she lifted her chin. “Do you have all you require to continue?”

            “Aye.”

            There was a pause from him, but he frowned and looked at her armor. “What sort of uniform are you wearing?”

            “She refuses to change out of it,” the sniper sighed and stood beside her.

            “It is the armor of my people. I forged this set myself. It’s called carved Nordic, but it’s been… ruined,” she sighed, looking down at herself. The plates were broken and filled with holes while the leather was in tatters. She hadn’t been in this land but for a few days and her armor was completely destroyed. “A large gun tore through it… I have yet to see another gun like it.”

            “A minigun,” MacCready corrected.

            “A minigun?” Haylen asked for clarification. “You took that much damage from a minigun and are… perfectly intact?” The Scribe came closer to look at the Skaal woman’s exposed torso.

            “Aye,” she said and her spell fell away with the last of her magicka. She had been exerting herself too much, recently. MacCready and her were quiet on their walks, which allowed her to rest, but she had to hold such long conversation with some people –like now– and it gave her a headache.

            “Did you heal yourself?” Skaddi shook her head and lifted her shoulders to show she didn’t understand.

            “Yes she did,” MacCready answered for her.

            The woman looked at her suspiciously and then turned to the Paladin. “How can you complete a mission with someone who can’t understand your orders?”

            “You could just let us go,” MacCready offered. Skaddi was looking between them, wishing she could understand.

            “We need the help and your comrade has offered assistance, it wouldn’t be right for you to go against her wishes just because she cannot understand us,” Danse’s tone told Skaddi he was scolding MacCready, which earned the Paladin a hard glare from the sniper. “Rhys is in no shape to travel, and I will not leave him alone here,” he added toward the Scribe.

            There was a faint sound of gunfire and yelling in the distance. Skaddi turned as did the Paladin and sniper, but she was off before them, running out from under the metal walls and barricades that had been set up in front of their base. She turned left, up toward a town square where the yelling got louder. There was a man in a blue uniform using a small gun on the feral ghouls.

            Skaddi grabbed her axes and ran up, throwing ghouls to the ground with her arms, or cutting their legs out from under them. She reached the man and bashed her weapon into a ghoul that threw itself at him. A ghoul grabbed her arm and bit into it, drawing a cry from her as it tore her skin from her bone, causing her axe to fall to the ground. The man yelled and fired his gun, but missed nearly every time.

            Skaddi kicked the ghoul away and looked at the wound in her arm. Another ghoul threw itself at them and the Skaal felt her blood boil. It was good she no longer had the beast blood, she would have turned by now. Vilkas would be proud of her for having contained it this long, though.

            The Dragonborn turned toward the horde that was coming at her and shouted her saving words, “ _Fus Ro Dah!_ ”

            The cluster went flying, into one another and across the square into walls where they splattered or broke limbs, giving the nord a moment to cast a healing spell and regain use of her arm. The man was yelling still, but now he ran from her and she watched as he went toward the Paladin and MacCready. Both of whom stood frozen, watching her.

            A bark made the Skaal turn around and she saw a dog grapple a ghoul to the ground. Her head tilted at the animal. It was clean, with smooth fur and all of its flesh intact, unlike the other animals she’d seen in this wasteland. She replaced her axes with her bow and grabbed an arrow, loosing it on a feral running at her. The ones she shouted were all dead, piled up in a bloody heap against a brick wall, but the shout only worked with so much of a range. Red beams shot by her, and she didn’t have to look to know it was the Paladin.

            A crack from MacCready’s sniper rifle and something hit her back. She turned to see the dead body flop and she looked up at her companion offering him a smile, which he returned before turning to point the weapon at another ghoul.

            The man in the blue skin was speaking to the other men in a frantic voice that nearly annoyed Skaddi. She didn’t like him. He wore a second skin, like the Knight, with yellow lines across it. The Skaal woman returned her attention to the fight and froze when her axe bounced off of a sliver, floating sphere.

            “Oh! I say!” it shouted at her and she yelped, jumping back and showing her axes.

            “No! Don’t hurt him!” the man in the blue skin shouted, and Skaddi looked in confusion between the floating being and the men who now came forward. The blue man stepped up to the silver ball, and stood in front of it with his arms spread, as if he were protecting the orb.

            “Mister Nate, please!”

            Skaddi lifted her axe again, but narrowed her gaze at the man and his sphere. It had three arms coming out from under it and three limbs out of the top with round, eye looking things. A fire was shooting out from under it, and she wondered if that was what put it in the air.

            A hand touched her shoulder and the Skaal spun, stopping herself right before striking MacCready in the face with her fist –which was still clamped tightly around her axe’s handle. “Whoa,” he breathed and lifted a hand. She lowered her weapon and looked back at the man in blue. Her magicka wasn’t fully restored –the ache in the back of her mind confirmed that. She wanted to know what everyone was saying as the Paladin addressed the blue man and the silver ball.

            MacCready’s blue eyes fell to the new scar on her forearm, his brows together as he examined it. She allowed him to hold her up and look it over. “I saw that ghoul tear right to the bone…”

            She frowned, unsure of what he said, but knew it had to do with the wound she’d received. Skaddi whispered a comfort to him and he frowned at her. She wished they could understand one another without magic. The sniper released her, and looked up at the Paladin. Skaddi turned to see he was waiting for a reply from them.

            “I go where she goes.” MacCready’s reply was a simple one, and she wondered what he said, looking between the men carefully.

            “We won’t cause her harm, she can be a valuable asset to the Brotherhood, and obviously she has to do that according to her how wishes.” The sniper was glaring heavily at the Paladin and Skaddi slapped the smaller man’s shoulder.

            “Ow,” he grunted and rubbed where she hit him. “That hurt,” he whispered and then looked up at the man. “Whatever, it’s her decision, and you’ll have to ask her yourself.”

            “Ice-Hunter.” Skaddi glanced up after a moment, realizing she was being addressed. The Paladin moved his hand and she frowned, knowing she hadn’t replenished her magicka enough to hold a long-winded conversation.

            “Aye, Paladin?” she asked when she had the spell up.

            “If you wish to accompany me still, we will be bringing this man with us,” he gestured to the man in blue. Skaddi frowned at him. “Or you can stay behind with Haylen and Rhys.”

            Her gaze turned to MacCready, “Which would you prefer?”

            He lifted a brow at her seeming surprised his opinion mattered. “Up to you, boss.”

            Her brows frowned, “Boss?”

            He cleared his throat and shrugged, “You aren’t here for caps, so I get to keep any I find, it’s proven more prosperous than doing bounties. Figure sticking with you is a lot better than getting mugged in Goodneighbor.”

            Skaddi knew he was a mercenary, he’d mentioned it once when they’d camped for the night and split the last of the fresh food she brought from Skyrim. MacCready explained that her food was ‘radiation free’ and tasted far better than anything he’d had before. She agreed with this when trying some Instamash that he had on him. She could _still_ taste the flakes on the back of her tongue.

            His need for caps –the local currency she learned– seemed like more of a dependence than a preference, though. She wondered why they were so important to him. Now, with the Paladin close by, wasn’t the time to ask, so she nodded and shrugged, “I prefer the term companion over boss. I see us as equals.”

            His brows lifted in surprise, but he swallowed the shock and nodded once. “We can go with, but I would feel better if you had some new armor.”

            She frowned at that and looked down at her Carved Nordic plates. Her smallclothes were showing in part, and so was her skin across her stomach, chest, thighs, and arms.

            “We can spare some simple combat armor,” the Paladin said. Skaddi frowned at that.

            “What kind of armor is that?” The men –including the one in blue– stared at her. The Dragonborn felt her cheeks go pink and she nodded, obviously ‘combat armor’ was enough description on its own for _them_. “All right. MacCready, if that suits your request, I shall wear it,” she said, turning to the sniper who nodded.

            Combat armor was… different. It wasn’t as heavy as the Carved Nordic she wore before, and it didn’t cover her as well. She had to have the orange and cream cloth under it –which she was fine with, and didn’t miss the way MacCready stared. The boots and gloves given to her with the orange uniform were little more than leather, but they would do until she could find a forge.

            MacCready stepped up to her and looked the armor over, his blue eyes flicking to eye the Paladin while he spoke to the man called Nate. They had given him some ‘fatigues’ as it would offer him more armor than his ‘Vault suit’. She watched as her companion adjusted a strap on her side, grumbling something under his breath.

            Skaddi lifted the spell and a brow at him, “What is wrong, MacCready?”

            He glanced up at her and straightened so that he stood the same height, “Nothing, Skaddi, just really don’t like the Brotherhood.”

            “Why is that? From what I have seen, they are more honorable than most in this wasteland.”

            He pushed a gust of air out of his lips in a huff, “Sure, that’s a word for it.”

            “I find your tone deceiving,” she frowned at him and he smirked.

            “Listen, just because I don’t like them doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. Honestly, with the Railroad gone, they’re probably the next best thing to get you home,” he looked over her face and then down her front. “Have to admit, you fit in nicely here, though,” he grinned.

            She lifted a dark brow at him and then shifted her weight to look at herself best she could. The uniform they’d given her was tight, showing her wide hips and narrow waist, and the chest plate of the combat armor made her breasts look even larger. Behind her was a ‘canteen’ for water and it rested right in the curve of the small of her back, above the straps that held her ass in place. Oddly enough there was one coming right up between the legs and followed the crack to clip behind her canteen. She noticed it on the Knight and Paladin –when the higher-ranking man had removed himself from his armor to help Skaddi and Nate better equip themselves– but it made the suit ride up, and she resisted adjusting it.

            The Dragonborn’s skin was tanned from the sun, more than those around her. Her dark brown hair was long, long enough to reach passed her shoulders, but she had tied it up in a knot behind her head. She had war paint smeared over her eyes that had remained on her since Skyrim, but now had been nearly washed away from the rain outside. She would have to find a way to craft more.

            Her pale eyes lifted to MacCready’s face. He was frowning at nothing in particular, but his gaze kept shifting toward the Paladin. Skaddi lifted her free hand to hold his stubble-covered jaw and make him look at her, “I do not ask that you trust them, but trust me, aye?”

            He looked at the hand touching his face, then offered her a slight smile. “You know… I’m happy I found you out in those ruins. Goodneighbor was starting to ware out its welcome.”

            She let her hand fall back to her side, “I can imagine.”

            He chuckled and leaned against the wall behind him, “I honestly thought I wouldn’t see you again when I dropped you at the Railroad. But those agents followed be and started… hinting that if I said anything about their location I would regret it.”

            The Skaal stiffened and stepped closer to him, “Did they harm you? I never asked before…”

            “I’m fine, Skaddi,” he lifted his hands to calm her and she looked him over just to make sure. “Anyway, I heard you… do that thing, when you threw the ghouls with your breath.”

            “It’s called Unrelenting Force,” she clarified, “In our words it is simply: Force, Balance, Push. In dragon… well, if I were to say it I would harm you,” she frowned and he nodded.

            “So you speak and that happens.”

            “It’s called a Shout, or a Thu’um,” Skaddi explained and he nodded.

            “Like with the fire? You said other words…”

            “That was Fire Breath,” she nodded. “As the Dragonborn I can learn Words of Power almost instantly, while normal men must spend years only to learn the simplest Shouts.”

            His brows perked, “Dragonborn? That’s a pretty cool title.”

            “It is what I am,” she shrugged. “I am a nord woman, I am Skaal, but I am also Dragonborn.”

            He nodded, “Well, I think they just say I’m ‘white’ or ‘Caucasian’. Dragonborn sounds much cooler.”

            “If I were to guess, I would say you were… nord,” she smiled at him. “Perhaps imperial, or a mix of the two, you are tall, but very skinny.” She poked his chest and her spell faded, making her frown in disappointment and pain as the ache in her head spiked.

            MacCready laughed and said, “Never needed that much muscle.” His smile faded when she just stared at him, not understanding. They spent a second looking at each other, not knowing what to do as they couldn’t understand one another.

            “Ready to move out?”

            Skaddi glanced up to the Paladin when he spoke, but MacCready answered, “As we’ll ever be.”

            “Outstanding,” he breathed and grabbed his helmet, placing it on his head and then headed for the doors. Nate was behind him, but they were leaving the dog and his silver orb behind with the Scribe and Knight. Skaddi didn’t mind, it meant more kills for her. She walked close beside MacCready as he took his sniper rifle from over his shoulder and readied it. Skaddi pulled her axes out from where they were tucked into a belt strap. It wasn’t as good as the rings she had on her hips with the other set of armor, but it would do for now.


	4. Let it Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ArcJet shows the Dragonborn just how harsh this wasteland can be. Not everything's as easy as super mutants and feral ghouls.... And she may have just made herself a target for another set of eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let it Go ~Frozen  
> Though... you already knew that :P

            Skaddi hit the ground, smacking her head against the wall. Her vision faded for a moment, and she huffed, glaring up at the white metal man in front of her. It raised its lighting enchanted stick and her lips pulled back over her teeth. “ _Fus!_ ”

            The grunt was little more than a breath from her lips, but it staggered the thing back, and she was able to push herself to her feet and raise her bloody fists. It stared at her for a moment, and then said, “Interesting. You shall be brought to the Institute for analysis.”

            “Oh no you don’t,” MacCready barked and threw the end of it sniper rifle that was normally tucked into his shoulder, into the metal skull. Another smack, and it fell to the ground. “Are you okay?” he came to her and she frowned reaching up to touch the back of her head.

            Suddenly MacCready was holding her, his hand on her neck to get her to bow her face downward and give him a better angle to look at her. He dropped his gun and used his now free hand to check her.

            “You’re bleeding,” he sighed and she noticed his breath smelled like smoke from one of those ‘cigarettes’ he smoked when he was stressed. He had one before they entered this building, finishing it right before they found a pile of dead machines. The Paladin gave MacCready and Nate a long-winded speech that Skaddi didn’t have the magicka to listen to, before continuing. Then these white metal men attacked them. She was getting _really_ tired of their shit.

            She was getting really tired of this _world_.

            She lifted her healing spell and cast it, but her magicka was drained. Skaddi panted and doubled over, her face taking on a sickly tone.

            “Hey,” MacCready knelt in front of her, holding her face with cold hands. She closed her eyes and allowed the chill to soothe her illness.

            She told him she needed a cure disease potion.

            “I can’t understand you, Skaddi,” he brushed her hair from her face. She looked at him, her eyes wet. Maybe it was just her, but the more time she spent in this land, the sicker she felt. Her healing spell helped, but only when she had the magicka to cast it.

            “She looks as though she’s suffering from radiation sickness, she needs a radaway,” the Paladin spoke, and Skaddi heaved.

            “We don’t have any of that.”

            “I have one,” the man, Nate, came forward and opened his bag, offering them some sort of liquid in a strange, clear bag.

            MacCready took it and pushed Skaddi to the ground. “You guys go on ahead, I’ll stay with her here.”

            “We won’t travel far,” the Paladin swore.

            Skaddi watched them leave, her brows pulling together and she tried to stand. MacCready held her in place and she frowned at him, swatting his hand away and tried again.

            “Skaddi, stop,” he growled and pushed her down. The nord flopped weakly and hissed, her head hitting the wall again. “I’m sorry,” he whispered and she noted his frown. He had apologized.

            The Skaal woman sighed and tightened her jaw, closing her eyes while the man opened the packet. She felt him pull her glove off, and she peeked through her lashes at him. When he didn’t look at her she made a soft comment about him buying her a drink before undressing her. When she laughed he looked up at her and raised an eyebrow.

            “You making fun of me?”

            She just smiled at him some, sweat wetting her hair, causing it to stick to her on her forehead and her neck. Then something pricked her wrist and she hissed, looking down to see him push a needle into her. Her lips tugged back over her teeth, but she didn’t move, trusting him to what he was doing. She didn’t really have a choice.

            MacCready sat down beside her, facing her where she was propped up against the wall, he sat with a slight hunch forward so he could hold the liquid up. Her pale eyes followed the tonic down into her skin. She could nearly feel it pulse through her with each heartbeat.

            “It would really suck if you died because of radiation…” MacCready started saying, she stared at him, and he looked back, knowing full well she didn’t have any idea what he was saying. “We have a good thing going I think…. At least for now. I know things’ll go back to how they were before you got here, but… I don’t know, I think it’d be kinda cool to see where you’re from.” He looked away from her face, to the liquid in his hand. It was a gross color, but she felt better, so she ignored it. “I know Duncan would love you…. He’d insist you’re some kind of super hero. Hell, you kinda are,” he smiled at her, and met her gaze. She grinned back at him, enjoying the sight of him like this. He didn’t smile often, but when he did she could see his broken and missing teeth. They intrigued her, made her wonder which were lost in fights. She had some missing of her own. “The Dragonborn… Savior of the Commonwealth…” he chuckled and looked down again. “If only.”

            He fell silent and Skaddi watched his face. Her free hand reached out and flipped his hat off his head, exposing a mess of brown hair that was sweaty and plastered to his head from wearing it so long. He chuckled and lifted a brow at her.

            “Really? You’re one of _those_ people?”

            She just shrugged at him and looked his face over while he ran a free hand through his hair to rough up the strands. She wanted to be able to speak to him like she could almost anyone in Skyrim –how he spoke to everyone here but her.

            When the last of the liquid was drained from the bag he pulled out the needle and Skaddi sighed, sitting up to stretch. She felt stiff, and suddenly tired and hungry. She wondered if it had to do with the cure.

            The Skaal woman lifted her translation spell and said, “Thank you, MacCready.”

            “Don’t worry about it, Skaddi.”

            She nodded and let the spell fall away before her magicka worsened her headache. Then she fell in behind him to aid the Paladin and Nate.

 

 

            Skaddi leaned against MacCready for support as the Paladin spoke privately with Nate ahead of them. The whole quest had been more than she expected. Sure, she’d cleared her fair share of dungeons, but this… she didn’t think she could have done it just her –or even with only MacCready at her back.

            The mercenary wrapped an arm around her to keep her on her feet. One of the metal men got her good with its electric stick in the last room. It had thrown her up against the wall and drained her magicka with its lightning. The aching in her head was enough to put her on her ass if her companion weren’t holding her.

            “You look like shi–” MacCready grunted, and adjusted his grip on her. “Crap, I mean you look like crap.”

            She mumbled something along the lines of him needing to eat a mammoth steak because he was too skinny. She had no idea what he said, but she knew his tones, and he was giving her a mild insult, so she returned the favor. He chuckled, understanding her tone as well.

            “Come on, you need to sleep.”

            “Excuse me.”

            Both Skaddi and MacCready looked up at the sheepish man, Nate. “Yeah?”

            “Two things…” he lifted two fingers as he addressed MacCready. “Firstly, does… she happen to be from…” he cleared his throat, “‘The rim of the sky’?”

            Skaddi watched MacCready’s eyes narrow at the man suspiciously, and it put her on edge. “She’s from _Skyrim_ , yes….”

            The man nodded and smiled some, “I know someone who needs to speak with her. Her name is Mama Murphy, she’s in Sanctuary.”

            The mercenary’s hand on her waist tightened and Skaddi glanced up at him. He’d never touched her like this before, they’d never been this close. He was grinding his teeth together as his blue eyes locked on the man in front of him. When he spoke, she looked at his mouth, at his broken teeth, “What does this lady want with her?”

            “To help her get home. Mama says she’s lost and she’s the only one who can help.”

            Whatever the man said made MacCready tense and clamp his mouth shut. “I’ll have to talk to her about this. She doesn’t have the energy right now.”

            “I understand. Just… Mama told me to tell her ‘the Sight can help’.”

            “I’ll tell her.”

            “Okay, uh, yeah.” He cleared his throat and lowered one finger. “So, that second thing. You’re a mercenary, right? I could really use one of those. I have to go to Diamond City and I’m not really…”

            MacCready’s hand on her tightened after it had only just started to relax and he started speaking before the other man was done. “I’m not leaving her.”

            “Oh, no, that’s fine, she can come, too, or whatever…” the man stammered.

            “How can we get her home if we’re following you?”

            The man frowned and looked at his hands. “Listen… I just need help for a little while, until I can find someone who can get me to my son.”

            “Your… son?” Skaddi noticed MacCready’s face shift from near offence to sympathy.

            “Yeah, he was kidnapped and I… I don’t know where he was taken, or who took him, or…. I just need help, okay? And I can pay you whatever it takes.”

            The thundering steps of heavy armor came forward and the Paladin stepped up behind Nate. “Your comrade can accompany us at the Police Station until she is well, and then we can take her to Sanctuary to meet with this Mama Murphy.”

            “You’re telling me to leave her?”

            “You’re a mercenary, and she is not paying you, I’m surprised you’ve stayed with her this long, civilian.”

            Skaddi was getting very frustrated with the conversation happening around her and she pushed away from MacCready to leave the men to speak. It didn’t hurt so bad if she wasn’t just standing there looking stupid. Never in her life had she felt so… inadequate.

            They talked for a while without her –yelling more than a few times– and she found a place to sit beside a large yellow beast of metal. She opened her bag, the last of her supplies from Skyrim now were overwhelmed by the things MacCready had advised her pick up. She was hungry and desperately wanted a sweetroll, but she had split her last one with him two nights ago. Now she picked up a pink box that had sweet cakes wrapped in clear paper. They were okay, but nothing compared to her land’s sweets.

            As she ate it she could taste the soft prick of radiation. Her stomach always protested her eating this food, but she had to.

            “Skaddi…?”

            The Dragonborn looked up and lifted a brow at MacCready. He sat down beside her and looked up at the sky. It was nearing sun down. She pulled up her spell and looked at him, “What troubles you?”

            “Nate wants me to go with him,” he said softly, not looking at her. “He’s offering twice the caps I normally charge.”

            “You should go with him,” she said and he blinked, looking at her.

            “What? I thought you might–”

            “You need the money,” she cut him off, turning her pale eyes to the sky. “You said so.”

            “That’s just because I was hoping to pay these guys off that have been hassling me…” MacCready frowned. He looked surprised and… sad that she would allow him to go so easily.

            “Money rarely solves that sort of problem,” she put the box back into her bag and turned toward him.

            “Tell me about it… they’ll probably just take the caps and put a bullet in my head.” He sighed and closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the yellow contraption. “Danse said you can stay with them, they’re going to take you to this woman named Mama Murphy. She said ‘the Sight can help’.”

            Skaddi stiffened and climbed up to stand on her knees and looked down at the mercenary. “Someone here has the Sight?”

            He opened his eyes and locked his strange blue to her pale ones. “Um, I guess…. I don’t know her personally, but that guy, Nate, knew you came from Skyrim because of her.”

            “He knows of Skyrim?”

            “Sort of,” they both stood up and he frowned at her. “I don’t want you getting too excited, it might end up being bullshi– a load of crap.”

            “MacCready,” she lifted her hand at him, “This is the first lead I’ve had since coming here.”

            “I know,” he frowned and looked at the black disk above her fist. “You should sleep on it, I told them we would stick with them until tomorrow and I would let you decide what we do.”

            She looked over his face. He had a long nose with a straight bridge that split his face in half and stopped above thin, pursed lips. The hair around his lips was thin, but he was young, around her age, and some men couldn’t grow full beards until later in their life. It made him look more imperial this way. That with his thin nature and how he held himself… she could imagine him standing among the red and brown ranks under the flag of the empire.

            Or maybe he would join the Companions? Fight for gold and glory….

            His aim was strong; he could make a good assassin in the Dark Brotherhood….

            But he clung well to the shadows, and his fingers were light: perhaps he would favor the Thieves Guild….

            “I’ll sleep on it,” she decided and he nodded, satisfied.

            “Good,” he stepped a little closer and frowned. “How’s your headache?”

            “Near constant,” she whispered and he gave her a sympathetic look.

            “Maybe we can get you a Med-X, it’ll ease the pain.”

            “I just need to rest, too much magic…” her fist waved and the disk shifted, following her hand.

            He nodded and put his hand over hers. When he did the spell faded and the blue mist evaporated. “Rest,” he said.

            Her eyes locked on his, and she gave a single nod of understanding.

 

 

            Skaddi knelt beside MacCready’s sleeping form. He looked at peace, and it warmed her heart. She ran her fingers through his hair, her touch as light as a feather, before she bent down and kissed his temple. Her lips barely applied any pressure. She knew how lightly he slept when he was somewhere he wasn’t comfortable. More than once he had woken to the sound of a stag running yards away. She was impressed by him, and knew what she was about to do would hurt him.

            He needed the money though, and she knew he had enough honor to keep him from following Nate. She couldn’t offer him what the sheepish man could. She was holding him back, and she needed to be the one to cut him loose. Her own feelings had grown too deep for him, though. He was the first person she met in this land, the only one she truly trusted. Now she was leaving him in favor of near strangers.

            It was for the best. She could find him again. Her spell Clairvoyance brought her to Argis, one of her housecarls, when he was taken hostage by forsworn natives looking to get revenge on her. She could use the spell to find MacCready in this land, she was sure. It still ached in her chest to leave him like this.

            Skaddi pulled out the caps she had taken off of the greenskins she’d killed when she first got here. Then she put them down beside his head and brushed his hair again.

            “Come on, civi, you keep doing that and he’ll wake up,” the Knight grunted softly behind her.

            Skaddi ignored him and sat back on her heels. Maybe she should wake him up….

            No, he would talk her out of it. He would insist on staying with her. Skaddi reached into her bag and pulled out her amulet of Mara. She had carried it with her through most of her travel, knowing it would show those around her her wish for marriage, but she had never had the confidence to put it on. Several men caught her eye, and she theirs, but she was always forced to leave them to continue her quest to kill Alduin. And only days after she defeated the World Eater she was thrown into this world. All she had wanted to do was check on her mother in Skaal Village and then find a man to settle down with…

            The Skaal put the amulet next to the caps, stood, and turned to the men behind her. When she lifted her spell she said to the sheepish man, Nate, “Take care of him. I will come looking for you two once I have answers from Mama Murphy.”

            Nate nodded, “I need him as much as you do.”

            She sighed and let the spell fall away, not missing how the knight glared at her. Rhys was a large man, much more nord like than Nate or MacCready. But his whole face and head were shaved close, which did not appeal to her.

            The Paladin stood by the door, without his armor so that he could move more quietly. When she approached him she looked him over in the orange and cream suit he stood in. He was also rather nord like, with black hair growing thickly on his head and a thick beard trying to grow on his jaw, but he kept it shaved back. His muscle was thick, but the Knight had more volume to his, making him look larger than the Paladin.

            Skaddi lifted her spell when the Paladin gestured.

            “We have sent a distress signal to my superiors and are expecting word back soon. When you get your answers in Sanctuary Rhys will help you set up a signal to report back to us, and then you should return here.”

            Skaddi glanced back at the mercenary and then at Nate who was settling down to get a few more hours of sleep. “And the Brotherhood will do what it can to help me return home?”

            “Of course. In exchange, all we ask is that you tell us about your land, and your abilities,” he gestured to her and she nodded.

            “Aye, I can do that.”

            “Then you have the Brotherhood at your back. You two take care of each other, we can’t afford to lose either of you,” he gave the Knight a meaningful look.

            “Yes, sir.”

            “Until next time, Paladin,” Skaddi lifted a hand to touch her heart and bowed her head. The Paladin straightened his back, pushed his feet together, and held his fist over his chest.

            “To Victory.”

            The Knight mimicked him, and repeated the words. Skaddi let the spell fall away and followed the Knight out the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Her translation spell is funny that way, I figured Ad Victoriam would translate.... but yeah, any who.


	5. He's a Tramp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skaddi gets to know Rhys a little better on their way to Sanctuary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> He's a Tramp ~Lady and the Tramp

            Knight Rhys wasn’t as good of company as MacCready. He reminded Skaddi of Farkas in a lot of ways –large, does little communicating, and seemed to be more comfortable using his fist than his words. She started to make a game of him as they traveled northwest, testing him to see if his scowl was permanently etched into his face.

            Turns out it was, and it got worse the more she spoke and he couldn’t understand.

            “Why do you talk?! You know I don’t know what you’re saying!” he shouted at her and she smiled, lifting her hands at him to show her surrender. He shook his head. “You’re doing it on purpose. Christ, bitch….”

            Skaddi followed beside him and let him be after that. He looked really uncomfortable, and she felt bad for worsening it. After some time of silence, she lifted her spell and said, “I’m sorry, knight.”

            He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and sighed, “Look, I don’t trust you, I don’t like you. But Danse is right, you aren’t something we should allow the Institute to get its hands on, so I’m not going to let shit get to you.”

            “What is the Institute? I have heard them mentioned before.”

            “They’re the ones who made those synths that attacked you guys in ArcJet.”

            “The metal men?”

            “Yeah,” he stopped and squinted ahead and then pulled the long, green bag off his shoulder. “They’re made by the eggheads trying to play God. Those are just the old ones. New ones look just like people.” He pulled out a tin she knew had clean water in it. He took a drink and offered it to her. She took it and finished it. “Honestly, I thought you might be one at first.”

            “The Railroad thought that, too. I killed them.”

            He chuckled and she smiled at the sound, noting he looked better when he smiled. It wrinkled the scar on his nose and creased his cheeks to show dimples. “Wish I could have seen that.”

            “I could show you what I did,” she offered and he lifted a dark brow at her.

            “By all means,” he waved ahead of him and she nodded letting the spell fade. Skaddi handed him her knapsack and he threw it over his shoulder.

            They continued forward a few steps and Skaddi spotted what the knight had looked at a moment ago. Ahead were several bandits. They had yet to notice her and Rhys, but soon they would as neither of them were being stealthy –quite the opposite, as they walked right down the middle of the road.

            She took her bow from her back and stopped, aiming for the one standing on the bridge that crossed the road, compensating for the gentle breeze. When she loosed the arrow, it flew true and struck the man in the back, causing him to fall over the side and hit the hard black rock of the road, shattering his head and spraying blood.

            The others saw her then and two ran at her with metal sticks raised. She shot one in the leg, causing them to stumble to the ground and the other she smirked at. “ _Yol!_ ” she shouted, and a ball of fire left her mouth, growing large as it flew toward the other man. When it hit him, he cried out, his skin turning black, burning and falling to his knees.

            Two more were up ahead with guns, and they yelled at her. She didn’t understand them, though, and shot one. A couple of bullets found her and she stumbled back a step, looking down to see the combat armor stopped all but one. The one found her belly and she hissed, summoning her healing spell as she put her bow away. The bullets continued to fly while she jogged toward the last bandit.

            “What are you?” she screamed, firing on Skaddi as she closed the distance and grabbed her axe off her hip –more slowly than she cared to, as it was tight against her side under the strap.

            She healed the wounds the bullets gave her before her blood could even touch her orange uniform. Then she grinned down at the woman and threw her axe, catching the woman’s face with the edge and splitting it.

            “Remind me not to piss you off,” the Knight said as he kicked over a body and picked the ammo off of it. She smirked at him, knowing the tone he used was implying a compliment.

            She lifted her spell and said, “I don’t have much more magicka for the spell, but that is about what happened with the Railroad.”

            “Just with a minigun, right?”

            “Aye.”

            The spell dissipated and she helped him loot the bodies before taking her bag back and they continued on in silence, but more comfortable now.

            They were attacked thrice more before making it to their destination. The first time: two man-sized, green mudcrabs burst from the ground and attacked them. Rhys stepped in front of her to use his magic throwing gun, while she fired arrows, catching the soft flesh of their stomachs once she saw they simply bounced off of the shells on their backs. She retrieved as many arrows as she could, but noticed quickly she now had less than half she’d come to the Commonwealth with –leaving her with seven.

            The second attack: ghouls. Rhys allowed her to take them out, noting her enjoyment in sidestepping so they missed when they threw themselves at her. The Dragonborn had never had so much fun dancing with something trying to kill her.

            The third one was when things got interesting.

            Dragons were one of Skaddi’s favorite creatures. She hunted them repeatedly, but called one friend. Odahviing and her were very close considering they met when she trapped him in Dragon’s Reach. Often she would call on him for aid, or just to speak. He was almost a brother to her, and gave her secrets to use against his kin. As it turns out, the Commonwealth also had dragons. But these were confined to the ground, and rather than had large wings to fly, they had massive claws.

            Rhys advised they run. But he advised this to her back as she was running right at it, axes lifted.

            It turns out that shouting at a Commonwealth dragon scares it off. And while it’s running away is the perfect time to cut the tendon in its leg and send it to the ground. She was quick, able to side step and allow the claws to swipe right by her, and then she brought them down on its neck, breaking the spine. A couple more slices, and she had severed the scaled head from its body.

            “Damn,” Rhys breathed.

            She lifted her spell. “This was a weak dragon.”

            “You fight dragons?” he lifted his brows at her, surprised. “Well, that was a deathclaw. A young one, but still a deathclaw…. You made it look like a pussy.”

            Skaddi snorted, “Deathclaws are pussy dragons.”

            “I want that written on a tshirt,” he shook his head and pushed the bleeding head over to examine it. “Good job, Ice-Hunter.”

            “Please, my name is Skaddi, Knight Rhys,” she smiled. He smirked.

            “Name’s Logan. Guess you can call me that if you’re making me call you Scotty.”

            She frowned and corrected, “Sk–ah–ddee.”

            “Sorry,” he grunted, the quirk at the corner of his lip still up. “Skaddi.”

            “Aye.”

 

 

            Sanctuary was a collection of houses on a small island with a broken down bridge the only connection to it she could see. “Stay behind me,” Logan whispered and lifted a hand to gently put Skaddi back.

            She grabbed her bow and he held his weapon across his chest, prepared to bring it up in a swift, calculated jerk she’d seen him do several times on their journey. They were greeted by a man in a strange hat with a long brim that pinned up on one side, and a long cloak similar to MacCready’s. He looked red guard, and carried a weapon she had yet to see. It was long, like the mercenary’s, but thicker, and more awkward looking.

            “Preston Garvey, and you are?” he looked between Skaddi and Logan as they stepped up to him.

            “I am Knight Rhys, Brotherhood of Steel, and this is Skaddi Ice-Hunter. We were informed by Nathan Briars that you have a woman with you who goes by ‘Mama Murphy’ and she has knowledge to assist Ice-Hunter.” Skaddi’s grip on her bow tightened while Logan spoke, and she narrowed her gaze on the red guard.

            “So that’s her?” he smiled and leaned to the side to look at the Dragonborn. “Not what I was expecting… she looks like– well she looks like you.”

            Logan grunted, “Something wrong with how I look, civilian?”

            “Oh, no, it’s just… I thought she’d look like she came from another world, you know….”

            “She did, looked like she stepped out of a Grognak comic book. Mind pointing us to the lady?”

            Rhys’s voice was curt, and the red guard nodded. “Yeah, she’s this way.”

            Skaddi kept close to Logan, he put his rifle on his back and she did the same with her bow. The houses here were like all the others in the Commonwealth, metal and falling apart. The most intact one had some benches sitting in front of it with tools lying on them and people filling the sitting room right inside the door.

            Rhys stood in the doorway, keeping her from entering until a small, frail old woman stepped toward him and smiled. She was dressed in a blue jacket and had a matching wrap around her head. Her hazy blues eyes smiled as widely as her lips did when she said, “There you are child, I’ve been waiting for you. Oh, you can settle down, boy, she ain’t gonna be hurt here.” Her thin hand patted Logan’s chest and he frowned down at her before glancing back at Skaddi. “Come on, child, use your spell,” she smiled and waved her hand.

            The Skaal woman tilted her head at the old lady and cast her spell, noting everyone behind the old woman gasping and gawking. Neither woman paid them any mind though, the Dragonborn said, “I come seeking the Sight.”

            “I know, child, come, sit with me, it will ease your casting.”

            Skaddi followed the woman to some couches and sat down. “What do you know of me?”

            “I know you don’t belong here, kid. You come from a long… long way from here.”

            “How did I get here? I was traveling back to Solestheim and…” Skaddi shook her head.

            “I ain’t got all the answers kid, all I know is that you need some help. I saw… I saw how to make one of them enchanters from your land. And I can give you an enchantment so you ain’t gotta have that spell no more, and you can understand us all.” The woman placed her hand on Skaddi’s and the Skaal woman smiled widely.

            “That would be fantastic. I… thank you,” she shook her head in disbelief.

            “Just need a few things, and it ain’t gonna be easy,” she said and Skaddi nodded.

            “Anything, just tell me.”

 

 

            “This will be your room,” Preston Garvey stopped at the end of a hall and gestured toward a room with two beds. They were simple, but clean, unlike most of the mattresses that Skaddi and MacCready had found in their travels.

            The thought of the mercenary made her chest ache. She should have left a letter… had the scribe write one, or even Logan. He would be upset no matter what, though, because she had betrayed his trust. There was no way she could blame him, she would feel the same had he left her in the night. At least he knew this world…

            “Great,” Logan sighed and Skaddi looked at him as he stepped into the room and claimed the bed closest to the door. He dropped his pack and hit the bed with enough force it whined in protest.

            “We’ll have some food ready in an hour or so,” Preston Garvey took his leave of them.

            She went over to the other bed and dropped her bag on it, looking through the last of her items. She had one empty grand soul gem, an ingot of refined moonstone she had _planned_ on paying Glover Mallory back with when she got home to Solstheim, two health potions, an amulet of Talos, and a golden necklace with a flawless ruby resting in the center. It had been her first attempt at jewelry, and she thoughts she did a fine job. Now she could use the translation enchantment on it that Mama Murphy was going to teach her. That brought a small smile to her lips.

            “That merc give that to you?” Logan spoke up.

            She cast her spell and asked, “Repeat, please?”

            “I just asked if that civi gave you that necklace, you’re smiling at it like it’s special,” he waved a hand at her and tucked his other behind his head while he leaned back slightly to rest against the wall.

            “No, MacCready hasn’t given me anything, I made this in Whiterun at the Skyforge.”

            “Skyforge, huh? What’s that?”

            “The best forge in Skyrim, it makes the best steel. The Companions will only use Skyforged Steel weapons, for good reason,” she grinned and held the necklace up. “I was simply trying my hand at jewelry, and I think it turned out quite nice.”

            “Yeah, it’s pretty,” he grunted, not seeming to mean it. She looked at him and placed it back in her bag. “You really are from a whole ‘nother world, aren’t’cha?”

            Skaddi looked over at him and nodded. “Aye, and I wish to return there…. This land is… so dead compared to my home.”

            “Man, you sound like one of those prewar abominations,” he growled and sat up from the bed.

            “Excuse me?”

            “Sorry, the ghouls I mean,” he shrugged. “Sometimes I hear them complain about how different things were before the world went to shit. Bugs the hell out of me. This is the world now, not all of us got to see what green grass and blue skies looked like,” he growled the words and put his back to her.

            “Maybe there is a way I could allow some of you to see Skyrim,” she said and he turned on her, eyes narrowed.

            “I… I don’t know, that seems…” he turned back away and grabbed the buckle at his throat to start unlatching his uniform. “Not all of us can just… leave.”

            “Why not? Do you not adventure?”

            “I have a job,” he turned back around and pulled a zipper down the front of his uniform to open it. She’d never seen a zipper before the Scribe helped her put her orange clothing on. It was interesting, and she still didn’t really understand how it worked. Skaddi turned away from the knight when he peeled the second skin off of his shoulders and down his arms to expose a broad, hairy chest. “I’m sure Elder Maxson would send a team with you though…. Hell, if I know him like I think I do he’d send the Prydwen with you.”

            Skaddi glanced sideways at him to see he left his uniform on his waist and was rifling through his bag to find something. She had seen many a man shirtless, in many states of muscle tone, and Rhys was right in there with the best of the nords.

            “Elder Maxson?”

            “Our leader,” he said and straightened up, holding up a white shirt and pulled it on over his thick chest. “The highest ranking man in the East Coast Brotherhood of Steel.”

            This intrigued her, Elders were usually wise and well respected. She smiled to herself, imagining Kodlak Whitemane, before his passing, dressed like the Knight or Paladin Danse. The old Harbinger would never have stood for such weak armor. She chuckled to herself, drawing Logan’s eye as he pushed his uniform down his thick legs. She turned away with a flush and her spell faded.

            “Never laugh at a man taking his pants off,” the knight grunted behind her and she listened to him move fabric around before glancing back to see him pulling on a new pair of pants that were blue with a black belt about the waist.

            She summoned her spell. “You look very different in that.”

            “Yeah, well, no need to run around in my flightsuit…. You going to change too?” he gestured to what she was wearing.

            “I have no other clothes.”

            “Well,” he shrugged, “Sucks to be you then.”

            She frowned at him and watched him leave. When he was gone she let the spell fall and returned her attention to her bag. She had left her armor with the Paladin and Scribe knowing she was going to meet back up with them and there was no point in carrying broken armor. She also had two things MacCready called a stimpak and a psycho. She couldn’t tell them apart, and wasn’t sure what they did, but she knew one was for healing and the other was for combat.

            The Skaal woman removed the armor pieces covering her and rested them on the nightstand beside the bed, and unbuckled the throat of the uniform Logan called a flightsuit, and unzipped it to her breasts to allow her to breathe more comfortably. When she was done, she went out to the road and looked around the settlement. It was large, about the size of Rorikstead if you didn’t count the farms. She saw Knight Rhys speaking with Preston Garvey at the main house they seemed to be sharing as well as using as a gathering place. She thought it was strange that they gave her and Rhys a room together, even if the beds were facing each other on opposite sides of the room.

            The food paled in comparison to what MacCready cooked for her. He knew the wildlife here well and was able to turn a campfire dinner into one of the best meals she’d had without a jarl’s staff and completely stocked kitchen. Mama Murphy noticed her frown as she ate and whispered to her.

            “You’ll see him again, kid.”

            Skaddi called on her spell, “Excuse me?”

            “You’ll see that man again, child. But you’ll meet more people before then…” she sighed and closed her eyes. “Don’t worry yourself so much, you’ll get sick.”

            “I have a fair immunity.”

            “Not here, kid,” the woman patted her head and Skaddi dropped the spell. Logan looked at her sideways from where he sat next to her, his gaze falling to the bare skin she showed with her open zipper.

            He offered her a glass of dark brown liquid and she took it, remembering MacCready calling it a Nuka Cola. She liked it, and drank from the glass before passing it back to the Knight.

            A woman, two men, Preston Garvey, and Mama Murphy were all of the settlers here. Skaddi hoped they didn’t plan on defending this place with only them. She found the likelihood of attack low, but also chance of survival if attacked lower. Logan seemed to have similar thoughts as dinner came to a close and he paced the room, looking out the windows and doorways into the darkening night. He excused himself and Skaddi stood to follow him, intent on asking him what had him so paranoid.

            He was standing in front of a suit of armor that look a lot like the one the Paladin wore, but was rusted and smaller in part, though not a completely different style. She stepped up to his side and raised her spell. “Are you well, Logan?”

            He glanced up at hearing his name and then shrugged. “I just don’t like sitting still, and this area isn’t secure. I don’t trust them on watch,” he sighed and looked at the armor. “I want to know where they got this T-45…”

            “Is that the name of this style? I see it is different from the Paladin’s,” she breathed and his brows lifted in shock.

            “You can tell the difference?”

            “Aye,” she stepped forward and started to point them out. “The shoulders are thinner on this one. The helmet has this lift rather than the broad ridge… the face is pressed in more on this one, giving it a shorter muzzle.” She shrugged, “It has a single bar on the chest following the horizon rather than two.” Skaddi’s hands lifted to mimic how one would hold the Paladin’s two handles. “The knee guards are different, this one leaves more exposed. And the boots… well they’re just completely different aren’t they?” she turned back to the knight who was staring at her.

            “You really know how to give a mechanic a boner, don’t you,” he grunted and her cheeks flushed, widening her eyes at his blunt words.

            “I… apologize,” she breathed and he shook his head.

            “Please don’t, I know you don’t know the real differences, but everything you said is right. I don’t think Haylen could even point out what you did,” he sighed and folded his arms across his thick chest.

            Her eyes shifted down his front and he had a painfully obvious bulge to his pants now. She felt her cheeks growing hotter still and she turned back to the armor. “Do you wear this?”

            “Not T-45, though I could drive it if I needed. I usually work as a barefoot unit,” he chuckled and stepped up to look the armor over closer. “I work on the armor that the paladins and other knights wear.”

            “You’re good at that?”

            “Yeah,” he knelt and opened a piece of the armor to look at its inner workings. “The right leg hydraulics need some love. Damn this thing sat for a long time,” he stood and grabbed a piece in the back and pulled out a yellow thing. “Only has half a charge,” he growled and put it down on a table, “Never leave armor with a fusion core _in_ it….”

            She smiled a little and let her spell fade away. He wasn’t going to make sense to her right now no matter what he said. Skaddi sat on the ground nodding as she listened to Logan speak while he worked on the armor some. Every now and again he would get mad at something and throw a tool into the darkness, which prompted her to lift her spell to see what was wrong, but he only ranted about the condition of wiring or the actuators or… other things she didn’t know.

            Preston Garvey visited them for a moment, but left when Rhys kicked the power armor. She thought it was interesting to watch him. He even came over and talked _at_ her about something for a moment as if she knew just want he was saying. Then he went back over to the suit and started tinkering again.

            At some point she’d fallen asleep, and woke when the Knight was lying her down in her bed. Skaddi gasped and nearly fell out of his grasp. He grunted and lost his balance when she flailed, causing them to hit the mattress together. Logan grunted and released her. “Fucking a, woman, _Christ_ ,” he pushed away from her and stood. Her pale gaze followed him as he stripped off his shirt and turned his belt loose, dropping his pants. He left his clothes where they fell and hit his mattress with a groan, not bothering to look at her again.

            Skaddi stared at the ceiling above her and thought about when MacCready had held her. He stood the same height as her with a thinner body, and leaner muscle. She doubted her could carry her like Rhys just had –by the divines she could probably carry him though. Never before has she thought about like him as anything but a companion. Now she was wishing he was beside her like he had been the last week, always within an arms reach of her.

            Regret for leaving him festered in her chest, and she closed her eyes against the salty water that threatened to fall from her eyes.


	6. Bare Necessities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All she needs is /one/ more soul gem...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bare Necessities ~The Jungle Book

            Two days passed painstakingly slowly as Skaddi and Logan gathered the materials she needed to make the Arcane Enchanter. She was finally done _getting_ the things she needed; now she had to build it. One thing held them up, though.

            “It was really lucky you had the moonstone,” Preston was saying and Skaddi rubbed at the headache festering in the back of her head.

            “Aye, but the soul gem I have is empty, and I won’t have the magicka to cast soul trap on anything if I keep having to talk to people.” Her words were snapped harsher than she meant to, but they got the man to back off and the Knight rested a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him and lifted a brow.

            “Relax,” he ordered and she sighed, nodding and letting the spell fade.

            The Skaal sat down on the red couch and leaned back, letting her breath leave her in a rush. The seat next to her groaned when another body joined her. She peeked through her narrowed lids to see Logan, then relaxed some and leaned over, pushing her face into his arm. Skaddi expressed her wish for something strong an alcoholic, though it was muffled against his sleeve, and he couldn’t understand the words anyway.

            “Think that’s the only reason I believe this nonsense about ‘Skyrim’ and you being ‘Dragonborn’, I mean, everything else could be just some sort of weapon, and you can be a synth, but that language of yours is too crazy.”

            Skaddi lifted her head to meet his dark eyes.

            “Fuck what a shame, you’re really pretty,” he sighed and leaned back to rest his head on the backrest. “Bet you have a rule against sleeping with guys unless you’re married to ‘em…”

            He fell asleep and she placed her head back on his shoulder and stared ahead, but didn’t see the room she was in, rather, she was thinking about Skyrim. She wanted to feel the cold bite of a snowy wind, and smell the salty docks of Windhelm, her home in Solitude, in Markarth, the one she’s building in Falkreath and the Pale. How she needed to check on the Thieves Guild and the Dark Brotherhood, the Companions and even the College to see if they decided on another archmage.

            She wondered what they would do without her there….

            Probably attack and blame each other.

            Skaddi sighed and stood up, looking back down at Rhys before leaving him there on the couch and heading out into the evening air. “Hey!”

            The Dragonborn turned and tilted her head at Preston Garvey as he came jogging up. She lifted her spell, “What is it?”

            “You said you needed something big for the soul trap right?” She smiled at his words and nodded.

 

 

            As it turns out, deathclaws are a lot harder than she originally thought.

            The one she fought before was a young one, Logan had said that, but she hadn’t realized that they also came in _glowing_.

            The beast was twice the size of the other with broken horns and many scars, all of them and the space between scales glowing bright green like a strange, reanimated dead body. It took _everything_ Skaddi had to kill the damn thing, and this all happened after she drained her magicka casting soul trap on it.

            Unrelenting Force pushed the beast off of its hind legs into the irradiated water they fought beside, and her arrows bounced off of its hide. Her axes barely cut deep enough to draw the glowing green blood from its veins. Even the red blasts from Preston’s weapon seemed to do little to it.

            Skaddi was just faster than the beast, and got under it, passed its massive claws to its under belly where she swiped her axes across the softer flesh. It cried out and reared up. She used that to hack at the inner thigh’s pale skin.

            The creature stumbled forward, its legs trembling, and she fell with it, unable to get out of the way of it and its tail. It took Preston, Logan, and the other large man –Sturges– to get her out from under the beast. But the crack of lightning and the purple soul that left the animal and found the empty soul gem in her bag told her she’d caught herself a grand soul.

            Then a thought occurred to her.

            Swears fell from Skaddi’s lips like rain and she nearly threw the soul gem into the water. Barely she held onto it and settled for tossing it away from her toward the dead deathclaw. She hit the ground hard when she sat down, and ignored the stinging pain it left in her ass.

            Logan stepped up to her side, his boots making the mud squish. She hadn’t even realized she sat right in the damp riverbank. He stared at her, brows furrowed. She lifted her spell and he said, “What the hell was that about?”

            “I only have _one_ soul gem. I can build the enchanter, but I need a soul gem every time I enchant something,” she explained, her voice nearly condescending. “I cannot build the enchanter _and_ infuse my necklace.”

            He glared down at her for her tone, but nodded his understanding. “I can see where that might cause you to throw your little hissy fit.”

            “‘Little hissy fit’?” she stood up and glared at the Knight. “I don’t think you understand–”

            “I understand just fine, _oh_ _great Dragonborn!_ One thing isn’t going according to _your_ plan and you’re about to give up. How the fuck did you get to where you are now acting this way? Did your worshipers do the work for you?” he spat.

            Skaddi’s eyes widened at him, his insult struck her deep and she balled her hands into fists. It was hard for her to keep down the urge to shout him across the river. He shook his head at her.

            “You probably had everything handed to you didn’t you? You just had to follow the bread crumbs left by others.”

            Skaddi’s hand whipped out and she slapped the Knight. “You know not to whom you speak, _knight_. I am _Dovahkiin_ ,” the word was a thunder that quaked the ground around them even though she only whispered it. Logan stumbled, and Preston backed away, putting his arms up to keep the others behind him. “I left my homeland because I swallowed the _soul of a dragon_. I was summoned by the Grey Beards, and learned the way of the Voice. I had to travel from each corner of Skyrim, into the deepest, darkest reaches to the Throat of the World to find all the tools I required to defeat the World Eater, Alduin, the largest, most evil of dragons. _Then_ I had to go to the _afterlife_ and kill him again!” She stepped up so that her face was in his. “I walked and fought with men and women who have been dead for centuries.” Tears wet her eyes, but they were from her anger, and only fueled her further. “I have betrayed, been betrayed, killed and nearly died. I stole, I gave, I did _everything_ I could for a land I didn’t even call my own. Now… I am in a new _world._ I am only waiting for it to ask for my aid as well.” She sneered at him, her eyes tracing his face. “Now, _Logan_ , tell me if you have the balls to repeat what you just said to me.”

            The Knight looked down and nodded. Her spell fell away and she sighed, turning to look at the others who stared at her. Mama Murphy was frowning at her, looking sad. Skaddi turned away from them and grabbed her greatsword and turned to the deathclaw, lifted the blade, and then brought it down on its neck, cutting through the bone to the ground in a swift drop.

 

 

            The enchanter was done. She used the deathclaw skull in place of the horned troll skull that normally sat at the back. It fit there nicely, and as she stood back and admired her handy work, she felt a new way of homesickness overcoming her. Now she just needed another soul gem so she could enchant her necklace.

            Skaddi lifted her spell and turned to Mama Murphy who was sitting in a nice chair that the Dragonborn had made for her. “You wouldn’t happen to _see_ any soul gems here, would you?”

            “I’ll need to use the Sight again, kid.”

            Skaddi didn’t like being called that, but she wasn’t going to stop the old woman from using it. She had too much respect for her and she was basically a child to the Seer. “Tell me what you need.”

            “Chems, any you got will do, the stronger it is, the better the sight.”

            “I have these,” she went to her back on the couch and grabbed the psycho and stimpak. “I am not sure which is which.”

            “That one’s a drug, the other in for your health, kid.”

            “Aye,” she took back the stimpak and handed the other over.

            The old woman took it and stuck her arm with the pointed end. The Skaal wrinkled her nose and listened to the hiss of the release. She hated drugs, and she didn’t like when people she knew used them, but if it helped her with the Sight, then fine. There was little the Dragonborn could honestly do about it if she wanted the woman to help her, and the Seer was more than happy to do that.

            Mama Murphy arched her back and gasped. Preston came in then, and pushed passed Skaddi, but she grabbed him by his collar and pulled him away from the woman as she seized. “What’re you doing?! Let me go! She needs help!”

            “Hush,” she threw him behind her and stepped closer to the woman. He tried to come up again and she pushed him back with a strong hand, hard enough he rubbed his chest and coughed. “Leave her,” the Skaal warned and looked at the elder woman. Skaddi pulled up a healing spell but didn’t cast it, waiting to see if the woman truly needed it.

            “There’s… a quarry, not far from here,” Mama Murphy gasped, her eyes far away. “At the bottom… deep… deep… there are the stones, the stones that steal souls….”

            “Are there any others?” Skaddi knelt in front of the woman.

            “There’s… a man… he has one,” the Seer’s eyes were locked far away, but she turned her head as if to see it better. “You tried to kill him…” she whispered and Skaddi frowned. “The… Railroad…”

            “Of course they had some,” Skaddi sighed and narrowed her eyes at the old woman. “Are there more?”

            “I’m trying, kid…”

            “Take your time,” Skaddi grasped the woman’s knee.

            “More are coming… I can’t see them clearly, but… they’re on their way,” she grunted and blinked, coming out of the trance. “I… I need to rest now… and you have some gems to find.”

            Skaddi stood up and dropped her translation spell. Then she cast the healing spell and pressed her glowing hand onto the woman’s covered head, causing her to gasp in relief. The Dragonborn could feel the aches and pain Mama Murphy had, and knew she didn’t have the magicka to keep the spell up long enough to fully heal her. She did her best, though, and the woman whispered her gratitude before closing her eyes to rest.

            The Skaal turned around to see Logan glaring and Preston Garvey gaping. She waved for the Knight to follow her and went to their room to equip her armor.

 

 

            The quarry that Mama Murphy mentioned was filled with water, and Skaddi and Logan ended up having to help the man there get the pump device going by swimming down into the heavily irradiated water and turning valves. They were like the ones she’d seen in dwarven ruins. When they turned the machine on two giant mudcrabs came out of the ground and attacked them.

            The Dragonborn resisted using her magic in front of the stranger, knowing it was probably best to keep from exposing herself too much in this land. Logan expressed his distrust for the man when they left, and she agreed, but decided that there was no point in them hanging around waiting for the quarry to drain. The decided to return to the Police Station to report in the Paladin Danse as they had neglected to radio in while they were in Sanctuary.

            “Wish we had a vertibird, we’d be there already,” the Knight sighed as they settled down at an abandoned campsite. She watched the blue mist from her spell and frowned.

            “What sort of bird is a verti? Must be quite large, I assume you ride them,” she glanced at him and he chuckled.

            “It’s a vertibird, one word, not a kind of bird. They fly like birds though, sort of,” he sat back on his heels while he attempted to make a fire. She summoned flames and cast the low energy spell on the wood. He glanced at her and then smirked. “Anyway, they’re machines, like the car you’re leaning against.”

            “Car?” she glanced over her shoulder at the metal structure. It looked like a statue.

            “Yeah, before the war people drove them, they had wheels and you just sat inside and told it where to go, like… riding a horse, I guess.”

            She peered back at him and then stood to look at the car more. “This land is so strange. So it is a cart with no horse,” she clarified and he shrugged but nodded.

            “Sure.”

            “I see.” Skaddi sat back down after a few minutes of looking over the car without her spell. She summoned it again, “So you have machines that fly?”

            “Yes,” he picked up some meat and stuck it on a stick to hold it over the fire.

            They talked for a time about vertibirds and a floating city called Prydwen where he is from. Her spell gave her a headache, as she would constantly recast it as her magicka replenished. When the pain was too great she decided to finally go to sleep. The Dragonborn dreamed of home, of the faces she missed, of how she could have done something different to keep from coming here….

 

 

            Paladin Danse greeted them, thankful of their return. Skaddi couldn’t hide her disappointment that MacCready was gone along with the sheepish man Nate, his dog, and silver orb. The Scribe told her how hurt he was that she left him without waking him, and it only made her feel worse for what she’d done.

            She let Logan explain everything to them so she could rest and replenish the magicka that seemed to replenish even slower now than it had when she first got here. That along with the food, irradiated water, lack of sleep, and trauma of being dropped into a new world, Skaddi was surprised she was still on her feet at all.

            Logan knelt in front of the Skaal and lifted a brow at her. She’d sat on the ground in a dark corner where she could press her face into the cold stone wall. He waited and she sighed, lifting her spell. “What?”

            “The Prydwen is on her way, did you want to see her?”

            Skaddi perked up and dropped her spell. The Knight offered her his hand and she grabbed it. He pulled her to her feet and they climbed the stairs in the back of the Police Station with the Scribe and Paladin to go to the roof.

            Prydwen was a sight. The city was enclosed to look like a large fish swimming through the air with smaller birds coming off of it and seeming to guide it forward. Logan touched her shoulder and she lifted her spell.

            “Those are vertibirds, the smaller ones.”

            “And that is Prydwen?” she smiled.

            “Yeah, she’s a hell of a ship, isn’t she?”       

            Ship, not city, but the size of a city without a doubt. “I want to go up there,” she breathed and he nodded.

            “Just let her dock, and when we get word from Elder Maxson we’ll send you and Danse up on a ‘bird.”

            Skaddi let her spell fall away and she smiled up at the massive ship. Behind it the clouds were green and a strange thunder cracked. Her hair stood on end and she felt the prickle of radiation start to taint the air. Logan gently pushed her down toward the stairs as the Paladin and Scribe returned inside ahead of them.

            She couldn’t wait to see the city within the ship.


	7. Be Our Guest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skaddi makes it to the city-ship, and she meets Elder Maxson, turns out he's not what she was expecting, but that doesn't take away from how impressive he is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be Our Guest ~Beauty and the Beast

            Paladin Danse had to hold Skaddi back. She could have gotten around him if she really wanted to, but she allowed the Paladin to keep her back from the vertibird as it touched down in the circle on top of the Police Station. Her smile was bright as she looked between the steel helmet and ‘bird.

            “All right, Ice-Hunter…” the soldier sighed and removed his arm. The Skaal woman leapt over the railing, not bothering to take the stairs that were only a few feet away. She hit the ‘bird with enough force to bruise her forearms, but she didn’t care, instead she climbed up the rungs and gazed around.

            “Whoa there,” a man in the front chuckled and turned to look at her. He wore a funny helmet, and she looked at him with her excited grin. The Paladin climbed in and the man looked at the suit of armor. “Hey there, Danse, been a while. Didn’t know your company was going to be so cute…”

            “I wouldn’t, Glass, I’ve seen her throw ghouls fifty yards just by uttering a few words.”

            Skaddi lifted her spell and knelt beside the man in the odd helmet, “You fly this vertibird?”

            He jumped at the black disk and his mouth hung open. “Oh, uh, yeah. She’s called the Primair, she’s mine.”

            “I would like to see her fly now.”

            “Yeah? Well I need you to buckle up first, cutie,” he chuckled and she narrowed her gaze at him slightly before looking back to see the Paladin lock his suit’s feet in platforms on the side by the doors. Skaddi sat back in a chair and then the man turned back to look at her. “No, you have to put the belt on… oh, here I’ll get it.”

            The man removed his helmet showing Skaddi his bright orange hair and pale, freckled face. He had to be around twenty-five, but had heavy stress lines around his eyes as if he squinted a lot. He climbed back to her and knelt in front of her to secure her in place with the belts in the bench she sat on.

            “There you go, cutie,” he smiled at her, meeting her pale eyes with his mischievous green ones. “Lancer-Sergeant Michael Glass, by the way,” he held his hand out to her and she shifted the spell into her other hand and shook his.

            “Skaddi Ice-Hunter, Dragonborn, Defeater of Alduin the World Eater, Thane of the Nine Hold of Skyrim, Harbinger of the Companions… among other things,” she smirked when his eyes grew wide.

            “Damn,” he breathed and turned back to grab his helmet and resettle himself in his seat. “I knew I was picking up someone special, but Danse… where’d you find her?”

            “She came to us, actually.”

            Skaddi leaned forward but couldn’t make much distance against her restraints. She frowned at them and tugged at them some. Then the vertibird started to shake, and the Skaal looked around, eyes wide. Her spell fell away and her lips parted as the whole thing started to lift off the ground. She leaned over to look out the window of the closed door and gaped as the roof of the Police Station shrunk as they pulled away.

            “How’s she holding up?”

            “Well, I don’t think this is the first time she’s flown.”

            “Oh?”

            “I believe she said something about having ridden dragons…”

            “Dragons?”

            “Affirmative.”

            Skaddi cast her spell again, “What puts us in the air?”

            “Well you see…”

            The Dragonborn listened to everything that Lancer-Sergeant Michael Glass had to tell her about how the machine stayed in the air. All the way up until her spell faded when they approached the flying city-ship. The orange haired man pressed buttons and pushed levers while the vertibird turned and lifted up toward the Prydwen.

            Skaddi turned this way and that in her seat to look at everything she could, and then there was a hiss and a jerk of the vertibird and the whole thing slid up and a platform came into view. The Skaal woman pulled against her restraints and looked down trying to figure out how to free herself so she could go see the city-ship.

            “Whoa there,” Lancer-Sergeant Michael Glass came around and lifted his hands to calm her. “Let me,” he knelt and pressed the belts and they snapped open, retracting from her. “See? All better,” he smiled but she didn’t understand him and stood, stepping around him without a word. “Damn you’re built…”

            Skaddi leapt off of the vertibird and hit the metal platform. It looked like a dock one would find at a harbor, but instead of water, there was open air. She looked over the railing to see a great stretch of ocean –based off the salty smell– in one direction, and the Commonwealth they’d just come from in the other.

            “Ice-Hunter.”

            There was a quake behind her and she turned to see the Paladin had dismounted the vertibird. She tore herself from the landscape and followed behind his thunderous steps. Behind her the vertibird driver was whispering, and when she looked back he was staring at her ass. He didn’t even blush when he saw her notice, and simply smiled and winked at her.

            He was quite the flirt, but he was far too skinny for her liking, and his face was so cleanly shaved she wondered if he could actually grow a beard.

            The Paladin stopped to speak with a red guard man who regarded her with narrowed eyes and downturned lips. Skaddi had seen that look before, from Galmar Stone-Fist when she first joined the Stormcloaks. She just stood straight and allowed the Paladin to speak with him. Then the suit of armor turned to her and lifted his hand. She knew what it meant and lifted her spell, knowing she didn’t have the magicka to talk long.

            “Aye?”

            “This is Lancer-Captain Kells, he pilots the Prydwen,” Danse gestured and she bowed her head in greet. The man huffed.

            “Is that the only way you can understand us?” he asked, nodding his head toward her spell. He had a towering hat that put him taller than her, otherwise she was just as large as he was.

            “Aye, Lancer-Captain Kells. I am currently working on enchanting a necklace that will allow me to speak freely without requiring my spell,” she explained and he nodded, glancing sideways at the armor.

            “Paladin Danse tells me you have a number of abilities…”

            “Aye, I can Shout as well as cast spells, and I am quite adept in combat with my chosen weapons.” Her spell faded and she frowned looking at her hand with a mix of disappointment and pain from her headache.

            Lancer-Captain Kells also frowned at her and then glanced at the Paladin. “I was under the impression that lasted longer? Did she simply decide to stop listening?”

            “No, sir, she and Glass spoke most of the way here, discussing how the vertibird was able to remain airborne. She seems to only have so much energy to cast the spell, and has to wait quite some time for it to replenish enough for her to maintain a lengthy conversation.”

            “Elder Maxson wishes to speak with her, I suggest you remain close by until they are able to establish reliable communication, or he orders you otherwise.”

            “Yes, sir. Ad Victoriam.” The suit of armor turned to Skaddi as red guard held his fist over his heart and pressed his feet together. She lifted a brow at Danse and he waved for her to walk ahead of him.

            “Ah, Michael, how did your flight fair?” Lancer-Captain Kells spoke.

            “Just as always, sir.” The Skaal glanced over her shoulder at the orange haired man as he smiled with the red guard. The older man seemed close to the boy, almost fatherly. She turned back and followed along side Danse up some metal stairs to a heavy steel door. He opened it for her and she stepped into a dim room with a staircase leading down two level right in front of her and a thick metal ladder in the center, but passed that she could see a crowd of people standing with their hands behind their backs.

            She could just hear the edge of a strong voice resonating through the space, and she stepped around the stairs to go toward the sound.

            The Skaal couldn’t see the man speaking, but the way the words hung in the air demanding even her ears, reminding her of only one voice. Ulfric Stormcloak could rally his troops with a single word, but he always chose to give them words of encouragement. She could tell the same thing was happening now.

            The voice stopped, and the room echoed as all within snapped into their salute, cross hearts and straight backs. The Dragonborn and Paladin Danse stepped out of the way of the mass exodus of soldiers. When they were all gone the suit of armor stepped forward and entered the vacant space. Skaddi peered around the wall to see that there was one person remaining inside. A large man with his back to them. He wore a long leather coat that brushed his knees, with black boots that came halfway up his thick calves. She could see from here, even with the thick coat on, that he was a mass of a man, his shoulders more broad than even Knight Rhys’s and she knew the rest of him would match. His hair was shaved on the back and sides, but long on top, swept back from his face. A face she could not see until she came forward and Paladin Danse spoke up.

            “This is her, Arthur.”

            The man turned his head first, and then his body followed. His thick arms fell from where his gloved hands had been pinned together behind his back. She had been right about the rest of him being broad. She could see it in how his coat hung on him, leaving his hips free, but his massive thighs brushed against it. He wore the same uniform as she was, but his was solid black rather than the bright orange and cream she sported.

            Skaddi’s pale eyes found his face then, lined as his brows were furrowed as he gave her the same once over she was giving him, which cast his steel blue eyes into shadow. He had a nose to match the rest of him, broad and straight. Below that were thick lips pressed into a line that gave no emotion away, and were surrounded by a thick, grizzly black beard that stretched to his throat and then up his face to the shaved sides of his head.

            Finally, a true son of Skyrim.

            “Can she understand me?” he addressed the Paladin, but looked at her. She kept his eye contact, wishing she had enough magicka to converse with him.

            “No, sir, not without her spell.”

            “When will she cast it?” He turned his eyes over to Danse and Skaddi could breathe. She hadn’t realized she couldn’t, but now her lungs burned and she tried to hide the relief that washed through her before the man looked at her again.

            “She has exhausted her energy, it might take some time.”

            Steel blue eyes settled back on her, and Skaddi looked down at the deep scar running up his left cheek from behind his beard up to his eye. He was truly everything she had been missing from her land. Ignoring the ache in her head, she lifted her spell and said, “I am Skaddi Ice-Hunter, Dragonborn, Defeater of Alduin the World Eater…. Who are you?”

            His eyes settled on the black disk, but then he met her gaze, standing straighter as he spoke, “I am Elder Arthur Maxson of the East Coast Brotherhood of Steel.”

            Her brows perked. “You are an Elder at your age?”

            There was the smallest twitch at the corner of his mouth, “You appear no older than I, yet I know you have more titles than you gave.”

            He had a point and she nodded once. “I apologize.”

            “Accepted.”

            Her spell evaporated and she frowned at her hand before glancing up at the Elder.

            “She can hold longer conversations when she has had more time to rest,” Paladin Danse said and Skaddi glanced at him sideways before letting her eyes fall back on the man in front of her. He was still looking her over and it made her self-conscious.

            The flight suit she wore was stained from blood and dirt, and the armor she had needed repaired. Her brown hair was just thrown up, matted, and she knew her face was just as dirty as her hands.

            “Give her time to rest then. Have one of Quinlan’s scribes assist her, but don’t allow her to cast any more spells until I’ve had a chance to speak with her. She’ll need a fresh uniform and a shower if she prefers,” the Elder turned to the Paladin and Skaddi wished she understood them.

            “Yes, sir.”

            “You’re dismissed. Thank you, Sebastian.”

            “Of course, Arthur.”

            Skaddi was ushered away by the suit of armor while the Elder watched. She kept her eyes on his until she was forced to climb the ladder to the next floor.

 

 

            The water came out of the wall hot enough that it nearly burned. Skaddi stood under it gaping as it sprayed her in the face.

            “You’ll want to wash yourself,” the woman giggled and the Dragonborn looked over to the small Scribe. She had stripped down to her smallclothes and was grabbing some colorful liquids that she poured into her hands and offered over to Skaddi.

            The Skaal took it and sniffed the sweet smell. When the Scribe made a motion to her hair she realized it was for cleaning and the Dragonborn turned to put her head under the water and added the soap to her hair. It felt nice to have such hot water continuously beat against her scalp and wash away all the dirt and grime that clung to her.

            “Jesus! Merr! Who the hell is that?”

            Skaddi nearly jumped at the voice that echoed through the washroom. She peeked through narrowed eyes to see a woman approach with a towel wrapped around her hiding her from breast to rear. Her brown hair hung down passed her shoulders but looked as if it had been tied up for a long time and only just let free.

            “This is that woman Danse found. The one that knows magic,” the Scribe smiled and Skaddi cast her spell causing both women to stare in shock. The tall one dropped her towel.

            “Shit.”

            “Hello, I am Skaddi Ice-Hunter, Dragonborn, Defeater of Alduin the World Eater.”

            “I am sure you are,” the woman blinked her honey eyes and then smirked, “I’m Knight Reagan Knight.” She stuck a hand out and Skaddi shook it.

            “Only you would shake hands while naked,” the Scribe sighed. “You’re not supposed to be casting your spell, Ice-Hunter. Maxson wants you to save your energy so you can talk to him.”

            “Call me Skaddi, please,” she insisted and the tall one nodded.

            “I’m Reagan then, and that’s Merr.”

            “Scribe Merrin Debrie,” the short one corrected but smiled.

            Skaddi nodded and then gestured to her hair. “I have never cleaned myself like this…”

            “Here, I got’chu,” Reagan chuckled and stepped up closer to the Dragonborn. She was built like a nord, very similar to Skaddi, but not quite as thick. She had a softness to her that Skaddi didn’t have, and the Skaal woman had more of a curve to her hourglass frame.

            The Knight helped Skaddi shower, washing out her hair several times as she had never done it like they did here. While she dried off she watched Reagan shower quickly, washing herself and her hair at a speed that Skaddi couldn’t imagine. Merr helped her to tie the towel around her like Reagan had before entering. Then she guided her out of the washroom toward a room full of beds stacked on top of each other.

            “There are spare uniforms over here…” the Scribe whispered to herself and then grabbed one of the orange and cream flight suits. She handed it to Skaddi and then frowned. “You don’t have a bra or anything….”

            The Dragonborn dropped her towel and pulled on the flight suit, unable to understand the Scribe’s whisper. A few people walked by, and Skaddi gasped, covering herself, but they didn’t seem to notice. The Scribe smirked and tried to cover a laugh.

            “Shy? Get used to people looking at your lady bits around here…”

            Skaddi knew she would be talking to the Elder soon, so she didn’t want to use her magic to understand Merr. When she finally had the flight suit on she looked down at herself and frowned some. She wished she had some smallclothes underneath, but the ones she had before were tattered and reeked.

            “Looks like you’re all set,” Merrin said and tilted her head at the way the Skaal left the throat of her uniform open and unzipped to her chest. “Well, I guess you’re not really forced to follow protocol…. Come on,” she waved for Skaddi to follow.

            The city-ship was huge, and she was so thankful that the Scribe was with her, she didn’t think she would be able to find her way around otherwise. She got many a stare from all sorts of people, dressed from anything that looked like what she wore, to the fatigues that Danse had given Nate at the Police Station, to what the Scribe in front of her wore.

            They stopped by the ladder at a door behind it. There were flags on either side of it, and Skaddi took a moment to look at them. They were orange, like her uniform, and had a cream symbol in the middle that matched the insignia that the Paladin’s armor had on its chest plate.

            The Scribe knocked on the metal door and waited. It opened a moment later and Skaddi looked up at the Elder whose gaze shifted from Merrin to her, then back.

            “Thank you, Scribe Debrie.”

            “Of course, Elder,” she saluted the man and then smiled at Skaddi before taking her leave of them.

            The Elder stepped out of the doorway and waved for her to enter. She did and listened to him close the door as she looked around the man’s quarters. It was simple, a bed, steel dressers and a cabinet, a desk with a large lit up box sitting on it, and a table in the middle of the room. She noticed he had several bags and boxes in the same green color sitting on one of the dressers. She’d seen them before, used to carry weapons and ammo. On his cabinet was a cow skull beside an orb with a stand. The table had bottles of alcohol, and a brown box of something she’d not seen before. Beside the light box on his desk was more alcohol.

            She turned to see he was watching her and she cleared her throat, lifting her hand, “Thank you for your hospitality, Elder Maxson.”

            “You are our guest,” he waved for her to sit. “I trust Scribe Debrie treated you well?”

            “Aye, and Knight Reagan Knight.”

            He lifted a brow. “Is that so.”

            “Aye, she joined us in the washroom,” she sat down and he nodded once picked up a brown liquor bottle.

            “You used your spell to speak with them?”

            He was a smart one, perceptive. She nodded, watching as he poured a drink. “Aye, they were speaking and I wanted to introduce myself appropriately. Scribe Merrin Debrie told me not to, but I continued anyway.”

            “Would you care for a drink?” he asked, his hand hovering over a second glass.

            “Aye,” she breathed and watched the brown liquid slosh around in the glass until it came to the midway point, and then he stopped, placing the bottle down and sliding it to her. “Thank you, Elder Maxson.”

            He lifted his glass to hers when she offered and they allowed them to softly click together. Her spell faded when she lowered her hand to allow herself to focus on the alcohol. It burned, but it had a bite she liked, and she grinned at it, tipping the rest back in a second gulp. When she placed the drink down she looked up to see the Elder staring at her, a small sip missing from his glass. She realized she may have offended him.

            “I apologize, should I have drank that slower? I do not know this land’s customs,” she spoke once she lifted her spell.

            “No, you’re fine, Ice-Hunter,” he assured her. “I simply underestimated your tolerance to alcohol.”

            “Nords drink from sun up to sun down, and rarely feel it,” she grinned at him and he nodded once.

            “Is that what you are? A nord?”

            “Aye. I am a nord, I am Skaal, I am Dragonborn,” she shrugged and he poured her another glass.

            “What is it that allows you to use your voice as a weapon?” he leaned against the table and looked down at her. She didn’t like looking up at him, so she tipped back the drink and stood up, looking around his room.

            “As the Dragonborn I can syphon the souls of dead dragons and use them to learn Words of Power.”

            “Dragons, as in the four legged, fire breathing, flying reptiles?”

            “Dragons of Skyrim have two legs and two wings, they can also use Frost Breath as well as Fire Breath.”

            “They’re wyverns then, not dragons.” Skaddi stared at him for a moment and he cleared his throat, “You can use those Words of Power here, though, just like you did in Skyrim?”

            “Aye, unlike my magic, it hasn’t been affected,” she said and glanced at her spell. “I cannot recover as quickly here, and the more time I spend in this land the weaker I grow. I am currently working on making a necklace to allow me to speak without my spell, but I am missing one key object.”

            “What is that?”

            “A soul gem. I know of a few locations, but they have evaded me,” she frowned and met the Elder’s gaze. His brows narrowed and he strode passed her, going to his desk. She watched him open a drawer, dig around, and then pull out a long, dark purple crystal.

            “Does this mean anything to you?” he asked turning back. Skaddi leapt forward, grabbing his hand to look at the black soul gem closer.

            “You have one…”

            She then noticed she was holding the stone over his hand. His gloves were cut at the middle knuckle and made of a soft cloth. His fingers were thick, callused, and strong. The made her own look delicate which she never thought she would say.

            Her pale eyes flicked up to his face. He was taller than her, the first man she had to look so far up at in this land while standing in only boots.

            “One of my Scribes found it before we left the Capital Wasteland.”

            She didn’t know where that was, but she smiled. “This is just what I needed. I can fill it with a simple bandit’s soul, and then have my necklace infused…”

            “A ‘bandit’s soul’?” he frowned at her.

            “Aye, there are many of the scum plaguing the Commonwealth below.”

            “You’ll steal someone’s soul?”

            “Aye,” she frowned at him and he took the soul gem back. She glared at him, confused.

            “Killing someone and stealing their soul are two very different things. I cannot stand here and allow you to harvest the souls of human beings so you can augment your jewelry,” he spoke harshly, and with an edge of finalization to his tone.

            “Fine, but I need a grand soul, a deathclaw or something large will do fine,” she didn’t care at this point. He seemed mildly surprised she wouldn’t press her point, and looked at the gem in his hand.

            “I know just the place to send you…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooh, that could have ended badly/gone better?


	8. You've Got a Friend in Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skaddi gets what she needs to enchant her necklace, but shit goes sideways right after things started working out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You've Got a Friend in Me ~Toy Story

            The lightning cracked and the purple soul left the behemoth to fill the soul gem in Skaddi’s hand. She grinned and turned toward the Paladin and Knight in heavy armor behind her. Danse and Reagan glanced at each other and then they made their way up the hill toward Fort Strong.

            Elder Maxson had taken her to the front of the Prydwen and pointed it out to her, explained that mutants infested the place and it made him sick. She agreed with him, her distain for the greenskins started when she first arrived here, as they were her first opponents. He seemed comforted she had no qualm killing them.

            Skaddi found herself liking how he spoke, just as when she listened to Ulfric, but this man was different. He was young, her age, but the head of an army, and looked to have seen just as many cruel things as she had. When she looked at him she could see he believed every word he spoke was required, never wasted, and chosen before uttered. Still, he managed to keep from distancing himself from her, standing only an arms length away, he did not speak down to her, but rather as if they were equals. That was what she liked most about Elder Maxson.

            “Ice-Hunter.”

            Skaddi turned at the Paladin’s voice and the suit of armor stepped up, gesturing for her to get behind him. She did so, standing between him and the Knight.

            They cleared the fort easy enough. The first level had seven mutants, each taken out easily by the soldiers, leaving Skaddi with her axes clean, much to her disliking. She wanted to fight, she needed it. She had been stuck up in that city-ship for the whole of yesterday after speaking with the Elder. She had to relay whatever information she had to the Scribes, which proved quite inconvenient as her spell kept fizzling.

            The man she spoke with was interesting and patient with wide, excited smiles. He introduced himself as Proctor Quinlan and told her it was an honor to speak with her. She was impressed by his grasp of terms and concepts when she did manage to speak of Skyrim and Solstheim. He was interested in all of her details, no matter how small, which put her at ease since she did not have to impress him with dramatic feats –simply describing common meals she ate was enough for him to scribble down on his parchments.

            When she asked if they had a forge she could use to make armor he told her no, but if she could give him detailed plans, he would have one built for her. This excited her and she promised to draw them up when she returned from the fort.

            So she had that to look forward to.

            “Skaddi!”

            The Dragonborn glanced up to see the Paladin and Knight standing beside a white door. It was an elevator. She had seen one already in this land, back with MacCready in ArcJet….

            The thought of the mercenary made the Skaal frown as she approached and joined the Paladin in the lift. The Knight waited, unable to fit with the other two already inside. As they traveled down Skaddi stared at the ground. She hadn’t thought about the companion she’d abandoned for a while, so much had happened so fast it seemed. She wondered where he was, if he was still alive….

            There was a soft chime and the doors opened once the elevator stopped shaking. They stepped out and it closed, leaving them to return to the knight. The Paladin stood still, waiting for Reagan, Skaddi guessed.

            MacCready said he didn’t like the Brotherhood, but he also believed they were the next best chance she had to return home. She and Elder Maxson had yet to talk about how to do that, but she had mentioned it to Proctor Quinlan who promised he would get Scribes working on it.

            The elevator chimed and the Knight stepped out, brushing the Paladin with her heavy armored forearm. He glanced back at her and then started forward.

            Skaddi kept close to them using their armor as cover while they engaged more greenskins. There were two large hound like monsters, five mutants, and one was armed with a large gun that rested on its shoulder.

            Reagan pulled the Skaal out of the way just as a massive projectile left the gun and hit the Knight in the back of her thick armor. She grunted, stumbling, and Skaddi could hear loud rings and chimes coming from within her suit.

            “Fuck! My core’s destroyed! Paladin!?”

            “I’ve got them.”

            Skaddi stepped around the Knight as she knelt, seeming to feel the full weight of her armor. The Dragonborn sucked in a breath and Shouted, “ _Iiz Slen Nus!_ ”

            Ice shot out, drawing a slick path from where she stood at the bottom of the steps toward the two mutants in a narrow hallway. The one in front fired its big gun again and then they were both taken over by the cold, their bodies freezing. The projectile smacked Skaddi in the chest and she barely got out the word _Feim_ before it exploded, throwing her into the wall. She didn’t feel the pain, but she knew it would have killed her.

            Her flesh came back from the translucent look it took on to protect her from harm. Then she was tackled to the ground by one of the green hounds. Its maw clamped down on her shoulder and she screamed, her feet lashing out to kick at its belly while she tried to get her free arm up. Her axe smacked at the animal, bouncing off of its slimy flesh, as the edge couldn’t catch.

            She tried to speak another Shout, a simple one, but she was exhausted, two in a row, even just one word from the second, had a near crippling affect on her. The hound shook its head and tore her arm out of the socket, almost off completely. Another scream left her and she cried out the only power that she could use without weakening her further…

            Her Battlecry as a nord.

            The sound that escaped her lips filled the air, shaking the walls, and pierced the hearts of the mutants that attacked them. The hound on her yelped and tore away from her, sending her blood spraying over her face and torso. Skaddi gasped in relief and tried to lift her spell to heal herself while the Paladin engaged the retreating greenskins.

            She was too weak to hold up her hand, but she cast the spell while she lied on the ground, staring at the Knight’s stiff armor, wondering what was wrong with her….

            The pain in her shoulder subsided, but the headache grew into something more, and her vision tunneled before going black.

 

 

            Skaddi woke up in a bright room staring at a steel ceiling. She could tell without any more information she was on the Prydwen. Her head was pounding but it was nothing compared to what it had been before. Allowing herself to relax, she closed her eyes and breathed in the clean air around her. It wasn’t quiet she noticed, she could hear the thundering quake of heavy armor against the steel floor all around her, and voices of all sorts having foreign conversations through the walls and open doors.

            A hand rested on her wrist and she opened her pale gaze to settle on a man in a uniform that looks similar to the fatigues that Danse had given Nate. He had a shaved head and face that was round and kind with sad eyes and a soft brow. He offered her a comforting smile, but said nothing.

            She lifted her hand to cast her spell and he shook his head. Skaddi frowned and summoned it anyway, “Are you a healer?”

            “Yes, of sorts. You should rest, you don’t need that,” he released her wrist and placed his hand on hers to silence the spell.

            The healer left her on the bed to go to the other side of the room and look at some papers. She sighed, knowing she should remain here, but she wanted to get up and look around the city-ship more, and she needed to get started on those plans for the forge…

            The Skaal stood up and the healer spoke, she glanced at him to see him wave his hands and speak quickly. She casted her healing spell and felt her strength return to her limbs. He stepped back, staring at her as the gold light fell from her lifted hand and circled her.

            “Ice-Hunter.”

            The words were unknown to her, but she’d heard them before when someone tried to get her attention. She turned to the door to the room to see that it had been the Elder who barked. She switched out the golden light for the black disk. “Elder…”

            “Why are you casting your spells?”

            “I was healing myself,” she frowned.

            “Knight-Captain Cade can heal you. Over extending yourself is what put you in the medbay,” he stepped closer and she looked up into his steel blue eyes. His thick brow was coming down into a well practiced scowl, and she offered him up a glare of her own.

            “This is faster.”

            “That might be, but until your necklace is crafted you need to be able to communicate with us, and that,” he pointed at the spinning disk, the blue mist brushing his fingers, “Is the only thing allowing us to speak. It draws on the same energy that your healing spell does, yes?”

            “Aye.”

            “Then this is the only spell you should cast while with us. We can assist you with all of your other needs.” She felt her cheeks go warm and she gave him a single nod.

            “I apologize, Elder.”

            “You’re not of the Brotherhood, you’re not required to refer to me by my rank,” he sighed and looked passed her to the healer. “Is she cleared?”

            “I’m sure her spell finished what the stimpak had started. She was fine from what I could see otherwise, sir.”

            Maxson nodded and stepped aside, gesturing for her to walk ahead of him to the door. She exited the medbay and waited for him. Then he started down the hallway away from his quarters and the ladder. “I would feel better if you traveled with at least one of my soldiers at all time,” he started, looking at her with a ghosting of concern creasing his brow. “I fear what may have happened to you in Fort Strong if Paladin Danse and Knight Knight hadn’t been there.”

            Skaddi frowned and nodded once, “They brought me back here?”

            “Knight’s power armor was compromised by the missile that hit her fusion core. Danse had to pry it open to remove her safely, and he carried you back.”

            “I should have been more careful,” she breathed and looked down at the steel ground. “I should have seen that hound…”

            “It is done.” He stopped and she looked up to the room they stood in front of. It was a metal version of the mead halls in Skyrim, food and people sitting on and at tables and benches. A din filled the room, and Skaddi glanced at the Elder who waved for her to follow him. They walked through the mess of people to the other side of the space, and into a huge room with numerous suits of armor hanging from yellow structures. She watched as many men and women worked on the suits like Knight Rhys had the one in Sanctuary.

            They stepped up to Paladin Danse who immediately stood from where he was bent beside his suit, and saluted his Elder. “Sir.”

            “At ease, Paladin.”

            Reagan stepped up and also saluted, “Elder.”

            “Knight, how are you?”

            “Excellent, sir,” her honey eyes fell on Skaddi and she offered a smirk. “I see our friend is back on her feet.”

            “Yes, I want you two to remain with her, she knows you so she will be most comfortable with you.”

            “Of course, Elder,” Danse turned his dark eyes to the Skaal and she lifted her spell to listen to them.

            Maxson turned to her, “Danse and Knight will accompany you back so that you can enchant your necklace. If you can, you should bring your enchanter with you here. Proctor Quinlan informed me of your intentions on drawing up plans for a forge?”

            “Aye, so I can craft my own armor. Yours is…” she frowned and shrugged. “Different.”

            “I imagine so,” his steel eyes returned to his soldiers. “Only talk if you must until the necklace is done. We don’t need her passing out again. And, Ice-Hunter, please refrain from over exerting yourself.”

            “Aye, Maxson,” she nodded and he bowed his head, turning to leave them. “Call me Skaddi,” she said and he paused, looking back, lifting a brow. She just smiled at him and he inclined his head again, taking his leave.

            “Ooh, ya see that, Danse? Think he likes her…”

            “Control yourself, Knight,” the Paladin grunted and grabbed a long yellow object, pushing it into the back of his suit. Skaddi glanced over at them and noticed how Reagan smiled at the man beside her.

            “I am the _master_ of control,” she swore and Skaddi's spell faded away.

 

 

            Skaddi liked Reagan, she reminded her of Lydia and Aela in one woman. She was a lot like the Dragonborn herself, and was completely at ease around her, which was refreshing. Even Paladin Danse seemed to treat the Skaal woman like she was either dangerous or fragile. Reagan just treated her like a person.

            They took a vertibird to Sanctuary, and when they arrived the Skaal was surprised to find more people had been added to the settlement and some new structures were built up. Her enchanter was right where she left it in the common house, and she went to it first with Reagan standing close by.

            The Knight watched as she bent over the table and used the black soul gem to enchant her golden necklace. Mama Murphy have her the inscription she needed with the words, and the Dragonborn infused her pendant with the power, hoping that it was done correctly as she only had the one chance.

            “Did it work?” Reagan asked while leaning against the wall, her arms folded over her chest.

            Skaddi lifted the necklace off the table and placed it on her chest, connecting the clasp behind her head. “Can you understand me?”

            Reagan’s brows furrowed and she frowned. Skaddi’s heart sank, and then the Knight burst out laughing, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, yes, yes it worked, Skaddi.” The Dragonborn gasped and slapped the other woman’s shoulder and the Knight laughed more, rubbing the point of contact. “Sorry, that was too good to resist.”

            “That was irresponsible, Knight,” Danse chided from the doorway.

            “I know, I couldn’t help it,” she chuckled and cleared her throat. “But hey, you can understand us just fine now right?”

            Skaddi nodded, “Aye, this is just what I needed…”

            Reagan pushed away from the wall and rested a hand Skaddi’s shoulder, “Great, now we just have to pack everything up and head back home.”

            “Home…” Skaddi looked down at the enchanter. It wasn’t the same as the ones at home. This was crude, like the landscape around it. If she were to bring it back with her it would be laughed at. She frowned and stared for a long moment before Reagan squeezed her shoulder.

            “Hey, do you need a moment?”

            “Aye, that would be appreciated…”

            “All right, come get us when you’re good.”

           

 

            The vertibird ride went smoothly, for about half of the trip, and then they were fired on. It wasn’t the small bullets that bounced off like before when bandits tried to shoot them down, no, these were blue beams similar to that of the Brotherhood’s weapons.

            “Synths!” Danse growled and unlocked his power armor as Reagan unstrapped herself from Skaddi’s side and went to the minigun at the door. The Knight bared her teeth and started up the gun as the Paladin opened the door on the other side of the vertibird. Skaddi’s breath was stolen as the driver turned them in the air, nearly putting them sideways.

            Reagan swore at the man, “Keep her straight, Shepard! I can’t shoot if I’m lying on my gun!”

            “Get us closer!” Danse ordered and Skaddi fought against her restraints. She wanted to help. Her bow and sword were pinned at her back and her axes under the belt on her hip. She couldn’t Shout out either window as the Paladin and Knight each filled one.

            The ‘bird dropped low and spun, alarms sounding from up front and the woman sitting beside the man driving shouted to Control that they were going down. Skaddi’s heart stopped and the Paladin turned.

            “Bale out!”

            The vertibird bucked and a blue blast hit Reagan in the shoulder. She cried out and fell through the door, smacking her head on the minigun on her way out. Skaddi yelled and the Paladin grabbed her belts, pulling them off of her, freeing her. One of the wings of the ‘bird exploded and sent them spinning fast enough the Skaal couldn’t see anything.

            Danse pushed her out, and Skaddi fell, staring wide as the vertibird twisted through the air and hit the ground, rolling until it slammed against a building and exploded. Then Skaddi hit the hard surface of river water. She went under and nearly gasped, but forced her breath out of her nose to keep it from filling her lungs and swam up to the surface. She looked around and saw Reagan washed up on the nearby shore.

            The Skaal swam over to her and gaped at the state of the Knight. Her arms and legs were bent at impossible angles and her head to the side, showing off a wide gash down the left side of her face. Skaddi filled both her hands with her healing spells and pressed them down on the Knight, a hand at her forehead and her stomach. Sickly cracks and snaps sounded from her limbs and torso as the bones set back in place. Then the Knight convulsed and spat up water, gagging until stomach acid and food came with it. Skaddi grabbed the woman’s soaked hair and pulled it away from her face.

            Reagan looked up, then around. “Where’s Danse? The pilots?” she breathed and ran her tongue roughly under her teeth to get the taste of her stomach’s contents off.

            The Dragonborn stood up and looked in the direction that the vertibird crashed. Then she saw the white metal men crawling all over it. “The synths are over there,” she frowned, looking down at Reagan who tried to get to her feet quickly, but she stumbled and Skaddi grabbed her arm to steady her.

            “We have to get over there, they’ll kill them,” she looked around for something and then pointed to her bow. “May I?”

            “Have you used one?”

            “Best in my class,” she smirked and Skaddi handed the bow over to the Knight who looked at the six arrows and nodded to herself.

 

 

            The two women snuck up on the synths, keeping their distance.

            “These are the old C.I.T. ruins,” Reagan frowned and wet her lips before nocking an arrow and taking a deep breath. Skaddi reached out and slightly adjusted the woman’s hold. The Knight nodded and fixed her grip.

            The Dragonborn grabbed her axes and remained still, watching as the metal men walked around, speaking to one another. One wandered over to the suit of armor that lied on the ground, still as stone. Skaddi couldn’t be sure if he was dead or not, but the way Danse was laying wasn’t comforting.

            “If he’s alive,” Reagan started, her voice small, “We’ll have to get him out of that armor, I don’t know if he can get back up, it looks like the right leg’s power has been severed….” Skaddi glanced over at the Knight, noting the tear at the corner of her honey eye. “His leg is probably crippled…”

            “I’ll heal him,” Skaddi told her and the Knight looked over at her, blinking away the wetness in her eyes.

            “Okay, well, lets go kill ourselves some chrome domes.”

            Reagan was good with the bow, not as good as Skaddi, but she hit her target each time, either in the face or the torso. She knew where the metal men were weak and used the bow as a club when they got too close, until she was able to pick up one of their guns. She held it like Knight Rhys had, tucked into her shoulder with her cheek against the side, peering down the length of it as she fired quick, calculated shots.

            Skaddi used her axes to take out their legs and break their metal spines. It blunted her edge, but she was falling into her blood rage, turning her axes into maces as she turned them around and smacked the back against the synth’s skulls. The Skaal took a hit to the torso, and an electrically charged stick to the back. Until then she’d been good, but the lightning pulsed through her, draining her magicka.

            Skaddi threw her head back, “ _Faas Ru Maar!_ ”

            The synths shook, trembling at the sound of her voice, and then turned away and ran. Reagan shuddered and looked around, lowering her weapon. “The hell did you do?”

            “Feared them, they won’t return,” the Dragonborn went over to the suit of armor.

            Reagan dropped the gun and ran to him, hitting the ground hard enough to tear her suit, then she tried to turn the helmet. “Danse, talk to me,” she pleaded, Skaddi stood back, knowing that the Knight needed the confirmation of his health more than her help. “Damn it, Sebastian, say something!”

            “Knight,” he groaned and Skaddi watched Reagan’s shoulders relax.

            “Jesus fuck, I thought you were dead,” she said and shook her head. “Can you move?”

            “There is little power to my suit,” he sighed and she stood up, going to his back.

            “I’m opening you up.” She bent down and turned a wheel on his back. The suit parted and Skaddi flinched seeing the crippled man inside. “Christ, Danse…”

            “The pilots?”

            “Dead,” Reagan knelt down beside him, her hands hovering above him, unsure if she should touch him. The Skaal stepped forward and summoned her healing spells. It was nice to be free to cast her spells like this without having to rely on her magicka for communication as well. Already her head was feeling better, well, the headache was less than it had been.

            “Hold still, Paladin.”

            He did and the Dragonborn healed him, fixing the broken parts of him and closing the wounds. When he was able, Danse climbed up out of his armor and frowned down at it. “Two missions we spend with you, Ice-Hunter, and both times we lose a suit of power armor…”

            Skaddi smirked at him, “Yet we walk away.”

            Reagan reached out, her hand grasping the Paladin’s arm. The Dragonborn shifted away, noticing how the woman looked up at him, her honey eyes full of relief and love. He rested his hand on hers, and met her gaze, but it didn’t hold the same acknowledgment of emotions. Skaddi frowned, realizing what was between them.

            The Paladin was completely oblivious to the Knight.


	9. Kiss the Girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elder Maxson is less than pleased about what happens when his men accompany the Dragonborn on missions, but a deal is struck, and on her next quest she runs into some familiar faces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kiss the Girl ~The Little Mermaid

            Elder Maxson poured Skaddi a glass, and then himself, pushing it to her without removing his eyes from his hand. His jaw was set tight under his beard, she could see it pulse when he flexed it. Her fingers gripped her glass by the rim and she lifted it to her lips, watching as he threw back his whole drink in a heavy gulp. Then he poured another and simply held it, allowing his eyes to drift shut.

            Skaddi sipped at hers and waited for him to speak.

            “You saved them both,” he finally breathed.

            “Reagan’s neck was the only thing that hadn’t broke, she was lucky she wasn’t conscious for the fall. The Paladin wasn’t as bad, but he would be missing both his legs and his right arm if I would not have healed him when I did.”

            Maxson shook his head, his grip on his glass tightening until she thought he might break it. Then he placed his drink on the table and laid his hands out flat on the wooden surface. “Lancers Shepard and Fairbanks are dead, I nearly lost my most trusted Paladin and Knight,” he sighed, and looked at her, “So you could enchant a necklace.”

            Skaddi placed the glass down and nodded once, “Aye.”

            He nodded and wet his lips, looking away from her as he supported himself against the table. She watched him, guilt festering in her chest. She was causing this, if she had been able to do something sooner… save those pilots….

            “All this to send you back to where you come from,” he breathed and Skaddi blinked. “I lost two soldiers today, and what do I get for it?” Maxson stood straighter and looked at her. “You assisted in clearing out Fort Strong, it nearly cost you your life, and destroyed a suit of T-60 Brotherhood power armor. Now you’ve cost me fuel enough for two vertibirds to fly you to and from the Prydwen; one ‘bird of which now adds to the ruins of the Commonwealth, and its two pilots lie _dead_ in the medbay.” Her heart sank as she listened to him.

            “I didn’t mean for this to happen,” she spoke, her voice soft, but not shifting the blame. “I only wish I could have done more to help.”

            “You are a weapon in human form, Ice-Hunter. Those synths that attacked you knew that, and they got a taste of what you can do. The Institute will hunt you down so that it can use you against the Commonwealth as well as any enemies it has,” he stepped away from the table and came to stand in front of her. “I cannot risk them using you against us.”

            “I would never turn my back on my ally without _cause_ ,” she frowned at him, her brows drawing together. “You seek to send me home, the only thing I ask of you. I will do what I can to help you until the way is made clear for me. Anything you need.”

            “I need you to stop costing me more than you’re giving.”

            “What can I give? I have power, more now that I am not confined to using magic to speak,” she touched the necklace on her chest, drawing his eyes. “I will even destroy this Institute, for the lives you lost, for the torment it has caused this land. I will help you, Maxson. I simply wish to return home when I am done here.”

            The Elder’s jaw set and he looked over her face, testing to make sure her words were true. Then he nodded once and straightened up. “Very well. We will continue to aid you, as long as you assist us in our attempts to destroy the Institute.”

            “I shall,” Skaddi swore and bowed her head to him, her hand coming to rest over her heart.

 

 

            Paladin Danse and Reagan were sparing when Skaddi returned from her meeting with Elder Maxson. It had been two days since the vertibird crash, and she was still noticing dirty looks from the lancers. Lancer-Sergeant Glass didn’t speak with her when she passed, and his looks were no long flirtatious. Lancer-Captain Kells even seemed to speak to her with more edge to his tone than the others.

            The Proctors were nice to her though. Proctor Teagan was the ship’s Quartermaster and picked up on the flirts she no longer got from Glass –not that she was looking for them. He was a nice enough man, older with a pointed beard and looked sort of Breton to her. Proctor Ingram was much to Skaddi’s liking with a brutally honest mentality that she respected. And of course Proctor Quinlan was always happy to see her, especially when she gave him completed plans for the forge.

            Skaddi stepped up to the wire fence around the ring her guards were wrestling in. The Knight was currently sitting on the Paladin’s shoulders with a tight hold around his neck and was countering his force as he tried to send them both to the ground. The Dragonborn smiled as they fell and Reagan rolled away to smirk at the winded man who lied still so as to catch his breath.

            “Ah, hey, Skaddi,” the Knight straightened up and offered her hand to the Paladin who took it and stood. “Maxson give us any orders?”

            “Aye, there’s a synth attacking gunners near by,” the words meant little to her, but both soldiers looked at each other and frowned.

            “Should get moving then,” Paladin Danse stepped up to the wire and held it so that Reagan could slide through it.

            Lancer-Sergeant Glass didn’t speak while they flew into the city. Skaddi sat awkwardly between the two suits of power armor that were locked into place by each door. She wanted to apologize to the pilot for his loss, but she didn’t. She only sat and stared at her hands.

            They came to the building that was alive with explosions. The Skaal was able to free herself from her restraints as the Knight and Paladin unlocked their armor and both stepped off the vertibird, falling down to the ground with enough force to shatter the rock road. She stepped up to the side and glanced back at Glass who regarded her with an impatient frown, and she sighed. “ _Feim_.”

            Skaddi stepped off the vertibird and fell to the ground, her skin clear like a ghost’s. When she landed she didn’t feel a thing, and simply stood up, meeting the looks given by the Paladin and Knight as her skin regained its color. They went inside.

            Someone else was here, not just the synth and the gunners. Skaddi bent and looked at an ammo casing as the Paladin and Knight went on ahead. She’d seen it before. Her head tilted to the side and she looked up as two men came forward and fired on her. The soldiers took care of them, and the Skaal stood up, walking behind the suits of armor, climbing up level after level.

            A voice spoke overhead, and shouted orders, but the Paladin and Knight ignored them, so Skaddi figured it belonged to the gunners. Danse and Reagan worked well together, clearing rooms with practiced sweeps, but Skaddi grew bored. She wanted to find who was killing the gunners before they got to them. And it wasn’t the synth. She found more of the ammo casings as she traveled ahead of the soldiers to see if she could gain on them.

            Then she turned a corner right into the butt of a sniper rifle.

            “Oh, shit– Skaddi?”

            The Dragonborn grabbed her nose and then looked up at MacCready who was gaping at her. She smirked and cast her healing spell, lifting a brow at him. “I deserved that, didn’t I?”

            The thunder of armor behind her tore his blue gaze from hers and he frowned as the soldiers drew on him.

            “Oh, it’s you,” the Paladin breathed and MacCready tipped his hat.

            “Danse.” His eyes flicked back to her, “You… learned English already?”

            “I enchanted my necklace,” she placed a hand on the pendant and then looked to see he wore the amulet of Mara she’d given him. Her heart lifted and she met his eyes again. “I’m sorry–”

            “Mac! There are more of them!”

            Nate’s voice pulled MacCready away from her and he ran up some stairs. She followed behind him and grabbed her axes.

            It was just like before she left him: his shots blazing right by her while she spun and threw her weapons right into the gunners. Skaddi opened bellies, cut tendons, broke limbs, and smiled all the while.

            She turned her blood-smeared face around to look at those behind her. Nate and MacCready beside the massive suits of armor.

            The Paladin turned to Nate, “Why are you two here?”

            “I need the courser’s chip. It’s… um in his head,” the man tapped his temple and shuddered. “It’s going to help me get into the Institute.”

            “Get _in_? How?” Reagan lowered her weapon and stepped closer to the two. More explosions went off above them, and Skaddi frowned at the soldiers. Then she turned and ran for the stairs to go engage the gunners. She would leave the talking to those who knew what to talk about.

            “Skaddi?”

            She stopped and looked back at MacCready who came to her side. A door at the top of the stairs slid open and a gunner fired on them. The sniper peered through the strange device on top of his weapon and quickly shot the man. Skaddi looked at the mercenary she’d abandoned and felt the regret swelling up in her chest again. How different would everything have been if she would have stayed with him?

            “Why’d you leave?” he whispered, coming closer to her. She stepped back and pressed against a wall. He stepped toward her, standing so that he was close to her, his face closer to hers than it had ever been.

            “You wouldn’t have gone with him. He needed you more than I did,” she breathed, her eyes locked on his.

            MacCready looked down at her lips when she spoke, then frowned, his eyes showing his pain. She had hurt him when she left, she knew, but now she saw it, and it nearly broke her heart. “Why did you leave the necklace?”

            “It’s an amulet of Mara. She is the goddess of love and compassion,” the Dragonborn explained, her grip on her axes growing weak. He lifted a hand to rest it on the wall beside her face. His other hand held his sniper rifle down toward the ground. “I didn’t want you to forget about me,” she breathed and his eyes closed.

            “I could never forget you, Skaddi.”

            When his eyes opened again they stole her breath. They were the strangest color she’d ever seen with flecks of green and brown around the black pupil and as they spread out to the edge of his iris they claimed every shade of blue she could imagine. It was like looking into the sky, so close, but goes on forever. Her heart leapt into her throat and kept her from saying anything as the hand on the wall slid over to cup her face.

            MacCready’s callused thumb brushed her lips. Skaddi couldn’t breath, her heart was hammering against her ribs, begging for and dreading what she knew the sniper was about to do. She wanted to tell him to stop, to pull away from him, but she didn’t. She just waited, her body trembling under his touch. She wanted him to close the distance, to replace his thumb with his lips.

            The sniper saw the decision in her eye and leaned forward. His thumb slid down to her jaw and tilted her face up so that he had a better angle, and she obeyed. Never having been touched this way before caused her to shake under him, squeeze her eyes shut, and holding her breath. MacCready’s narrowed lips found hers and his hand drifted back into her hair, pulling her into the kiss.

            The stubble circling his mouth poked and scratched at the soft skin around hers, but she liked it. Skaddi tried to focus on her breathing, forcing it in through and out of her nose slowly, like he was, but it was no use, her head grew light and she dropped her axes to reach up and hold him for support. MacCready moved his lips against hers, and she copied, noting the pleasure it gave her now that she was participating. A soft groan pulled out of him when she pressed closer to him.

            The mercenary tilted his face, his forehead pressing against hers and she opened her eyes to look up at him, panting roughly to catch her breath. He smiled at her, “Never leave me like that again.”

            She let out a sigh and smirked at him, “How could I now?”

 

 

            Skaddi ignored the others while they talked about the courser chip and the dead synth on the ground beside the tied up gunners. She was standing beside MacCready who was running his fingers through her hair and kissing her forehead. Never before had she imagined this kind of relationship with a man like him, not only physically, but how he saw the world.

            His priorities revolved around money, and killing, like every mercenary. She could understand and respect that, but she didn’t know if she could love that. It was nice to feel his touches, though. They made her flush and bow her head, looking up at him through her lashes shyly. He smiled at her sweetly, his arm coming to circle her shoulders and pull her into his side.

            The others decided that MacCready and Nate would join her and the soldiers to go to the Prydwen and offer to have Quinlan and his scribes look at the courser chip to have the data unlocked, or something. She was distracted by the gentle frown on MacCready’s lips.

            He really didn’t like the Brotherhood.

            It was smooth flying back to the city-ship, and Skaddi couldn’t be happier when they docked and she was given permission shower and speak with Quinlan. When she glanced back to have MacCready follow she frowned, seeing the Paladin and Knight were detaining him and Nate.

            “What’s wrong?”

            “They’ll be questioned, nothing you need to worry about, Skaddi,” the Paladin promised and she nodded once, looking back at MacCready who lifted his chin at her, telling her to go on ahead.

            This time when she showered she was alone, and took her time, trying to mimic how she watched Reagan clean herself under the constant flow. It really wasn’t too hard to do now that she understood the mechanics of it, in fact, it made her feel cleaner and seemed easier than in a bath.

            When she was done she dressed in the fresh flight suit she’d been given and started to dry her hair, using her fingers as a comb. She was given her own quarters beside the Elder’s. Next to hers were the Proctors’ and Paladins’. She thought she saw Danse use the one on the right, closest to the Elder’s. Her room was across from that, with Lancer-Captain Kells’ to her left.

            Skaddi ran her fingers through her hair as she approached her room and paused outside the door to look at the Elder’s with the Brotherhood flags standing like guards outside. She wondered if he was there or down on the Command Deck as they called it. Curiosity got the better of her and she stepped up to it and knocked lightly. There was a long pause and she almost left, then the steel door opened and the young Maxson stood before her, quirking a thick brow up from where they hung heavy over his steel blue eyes.

            “What can I do for you, Dragonborn?”

            Her cheeks took a faint pink undertone. Not since she fell out of Skyrim had someone addressed her that way with respect. It warmed her heart, made her think of home, and she had to blink, looking away from his stare before answering. “I simply wished to speak with you, Maxson.”

            He nodded once and stepped to the side to allow her to enter his quarters. She did, and turned to see him close the door. Men and women of power almost never spoke behind closed doors in public places in Skyrim –it started rumors that were very hard to stop. Ulfric and she always had Galmar with them when they spoke ‘in private’, as well as several guards. Any other time they conversed was in the open for anyone to see what truly was happening. If the Elder was worried about his men starting rumors about them, he didn’t pay it much, if any, mind.

            “What is it that you wanted to talk about?” he turned to her, his hands behind his back while his feet stood even with his shoulders. He wasn’t wearing his battle coat –it hung beside him on an ornate rack– so she could see every curve of him in his black uniform. The coat hid a lot of him from view she now realized.

            Her pale eyes found his gaze and she cleared her throat. “If you’re busy I can return another time, it isn’t important.”

            “If you thought it important enough to bring to me now, then there is no point in waiting for another time,” he waved for her to take a seat and stepped up to his table, pouring two glasses of what she guessed was his favorite drink.

            “It is more… personal than I originally thought, now that I stand here,” she flushed more and took her seat. He remained standing and slid her the brown drink. She took it and threw it back.

            “Personal how?”

            Her eyes remained down cast. Her embarrassment was brightening her face more than it had in years. When was the last time she blushed like a maiden so? Not since she stole that dragon’s soul. She’s done it here, hasn’t she? She had to when MacCready kissed her.

            That thought stalled her lips, and she froze, looking at her hands on her glass and the imprint her lips had left on the clean edge. Her gaze leapt to his drink when he placed it back down on the table and she could see the impression he left. His lower lip was thicker than hers, wide like the rest of him, but the only part of him that was so soft.

            “You’re the first person here to remind me of home,” she finally said. When she looked up she saw a ghosting of confusion cross his face. She swallowed against the rising lump in her throat, her nerves getting the better of her. “There are no elves or beast races here, just men, and they all are familiar to me in some way,” the Dragonborn shrugged. “But they’re wrong…. I try to guess races, but they all seem so mixed. I am a nord, and I have been seeking out other nords here, to feel some sort of…” she frowned, looking for a word, “Kinship? So I do not feel as alone. Knights Rhys and Reagan both seem rather nord like, as does the Paladin, Danse. But you, Elder Maxson, you are the only one who I see as a true son of Skyrim.”

            The man before her listened to her words, and when she finished speaking he gave her a nod of understanding. “Anytime that you wish to speak with me, you may, Dragonborn. I want you to feel comfortable with us; this arrangement will only work as long as we both benefit from it.” He took out the chair at the head of the table, beside her, and sat down, stretching his long, thick legs in front of him as he relaxed. “Is there anything in particular you would like to talk about?”

            “Would you like to hear about Skyrim?” she smiled and tilted her head, running her fingers through the still drying strands.

            “Proctor Quinlan has been sending me the reports he made based on the information you’ve given him. It sounds like quite the place.”

            “It is so beautiful, Maxson, this world cannot hold a candle to it. The plains of Whiterun are so green and alive, and the snows of the Pale, oh it is a sight. You can stand on a mountaintop and look down and see for hundreds of miles in all directions…. And the Throat of the World–” she cut herself off by shaking her head and the Elder smiled. “I only wish you could see it for your self, all of the beauty of Skyrim…”

            “What about your home? Solstheim?”

            Her smile faded for a moment and she looked at him. “You know Skyrim is not my home?”

            “Yes, you mentioned it to Quinlan. You speak more of Skyrim than of Solstheim.” She did not hide that she hailed from Solstheim, but as she spent the last year in Skyrim and the province was far more impressive than her small island, she’d never thought to share much of home.

            “Nothing of importance happens on the island,” she shrugged and he lifted a brow.

            “If you came from there that is at least one interesting thing. The Dragonborn is special, isn’t it? And instead of coming from Skyrim, she came from Solstheim. You saved a land that wasn’t yours, just as you are now,” he leaned forward in his chair, arms coming to rest of the table. She watched him, her heart picking up. “How selfless does one have to be to leave their home to save a land that may not accept them? To travel so far to save those who need it only to leave when the job is done and wonder what they will do without you when you’re gone?”

            “Like you?” she breathed and he blinked, brows drawing together. “You are from the Capital Wasteland, not this Commonwealth. Yet you bring your army to save it from a threat that has terrorized it, as I went to Skyrim to stop the dragons.”

            Maxson’s lips curved up, and she looked at them, how they nearly hid away in his beard. “Perhaps we’re more alike that we thought?”

            “Aye,” she whispered and looked at her glass, a smile playing on her mouth.

            “What were you doing before you came here?”

            The Skaal turned her eyes over to him and shrugged, “I was on my way home, on a ship to Solstheim. I just killed Parthurnaax for the Blades,” she frowned, rubbing her head. “Delphine told me of all the evil he had done, but if it were not for him I would not have been able to slay Alduin. I betrayed him, and Delphine offers me only dragon hunters in return. I…” Skaddi shook her head, “I wanted to speak with my mother, see what her thoughts on the matter were. She would always tell me the truth, if I needed to hear it or not.”

            “Was Parthurnaax a dragon?”

            “Aye, brother to Alduin, and a leader of sorts to the Grey Beards who helped me…. I do not regret many things, but killing him is one of them,” she frowned at the Elder who nodded once and held his glass, turning it around. They both watched the brown liquid slosh before he threw it back, taking the rest in a swift gulp. “I hate betraying trust in me, it makes me sick. But when my allies hate each other…”

            “I can see where that would make your decisions hard.”

            “I only wish I could help them all without them wanting to kill each other,” she sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. “I came here and MacCready helped me, but I fear he may offer a path that leads against the Brotherhood. He does not hide his distain for your order.” Maxson watched her, and she had to look down at her glass. “He helped me to destroy a part of the Railroad. There was a man there who did not believe I was telling the truth, he thought I was a synth with made up memories,” she scoffed the words and looked up to see the Elder’s eyes narrow. “He mocked me, so I Shouted him and their leader into a wall,” the Dragonborn sighed and smirked to herself. “When that woman pulled out her ‘minigun’ I casted my healing spell and ran right into it. Tell me if a synth can do that?”

            “Not one that I’ve seen,” he nodded and she saw a smile perk the side of his mouth. “What did you do to them?”

            “I killed all I could get my hands on, they were attacking me,” she shrugged. “A few got away, MacCready and I knew we wouldn’t be able to follow them, they know the tunnels better than us.”

            “Tactically wise,” he complimented and she nodded. “We have heard of the Railroad, they free synths and give them new memories, sending them into the world…” he shook his head, disgusted. “They shouldn’t be allowed to exist –robotic abominations…”

            “The leader of the Railroad said they were people made by machines rather than by birth, but still human,” Skaddi lifted a brow. “I have only seen the metal boned ones.”

            “Yes, there are three styles of synth that we know about,” he readjusted himself and looked at her more squarely, “The ones you’ve fought, Gen 1 and Gen 2 models. The latter have the plastic skin and faces.” His nose wrinkled and then he lifted three fingers, “The third look and act like people. They believe they’re human, but they’re not. They can fool you into thinking they are,” he sighed and stood, pouring himself another glass. “It’s playing God is what it is. The Institute has taken the sanctity of human life and twisted it,” he bared his teeth at the alcohol he lifted to his lips before drinking.

            “Human life means a lot to you,” she whispered and he looked down at her.

            “It does.”

            “Even when you kill it, you have respect for it,” she breathed, looking him over as he stared at her. “The low life bandits that taint the Commonwealth, murdering and stealing are still men and women and you would have their souls pass on to the after life rather than locked in the soul cairn…”

            He frowned and rolled his shoulders, “If you’re referring to your soul gem and stealing the life force of a human, then yes.”

            Skaddi stood up, standing beside him. He looked down at her and she felt a flush burn her cheeks. “Normally men of power lose their humanity.”

            “I cannot afford to,” he breathed. His steel blue eyes shifted down to her smile, and then up to the pale freckles that dotted her cheeks and nasal bridge. They moved to follow the scar down her right eye, then the more recent down her left brow and side of her mouth. “It is the only thing I fight for.”

            The Dragonborn nodded and offered a smile, “It is truly a cause worthy of it.”

            The Elder inclined his head, “Our world has suffered a disaster that nearly destroyed our entire existence. I refuse to allow it to happen again as long as I have the power to change it.”

            “If you have the ability to change the world, you should. Otherwise someone else will, and it may not be for the better.”

            He nodded and she realized they were nearly touching. The man’s massive body gave off a heat she’d never felt from any one else, and being this close was nearly like standing beside a flame. His head was bowed to look down at her better, more directly, allowing their blue eyes to lock together.

            Skaddi had seen that look in a man’s eye before. It was how her housecarl Argis looked at her when she saved him from the foresworn, how Vilkas had looked at her when she cured him of the beast blood, how MacCready had looked at her in the hallway earlier today. She knew what it meant, and until today she hadn’t let it happen. She had looked away, broken the stare; left him standing there as she redirected her attention on the quest she was on. Today she gave in and allowed the mercenary to kiss her. Making her wonder what it meant between them. He was a soldier of fortune, and the man in front of her was a soldier with honor.

            She knew the sniper better, but that only made her more curious about this man.

            Maxson leaned a little closer, and she straightened up, tilting her face up more toward him. His steel gaze flicked to her lips, then to her eyes and he lowered his head. Skaddi didn’t shake now like she had with the mercenary. She shut her eyes pushed up on her toes to get closer to him when the distance was closed. One of his large hands came to rest on her hip and both of hers slid up his biceps to his shoulders. His pout lips nearly took over hers and the rough of his beard scratched at her face, but she loved it.

            Her arms rounded his neck and her chest pressed against his. His hands circled her, holding her at the small of her back and tangled in her damp hair. A soft groan left her throat and he opened his mouth, allowing her tongue to trace his lips, then his teeth. They were strong, healthy and straight with the slight taste of his favored drink. His hold on her tightened, and she adjusted hers to run her fingers through the thick black hair on his head, giving the roots a gentle tug.

            He was the one to tear away, and she gasped with him, maintaining her hold on him for support as he did her. They had both gotten lost in the kiss and neither could catch their breath for a long time. She kept her eyes shut so she could focus on steadying herself.

            “I apologize if that was inappropriate,” he panted and she looked up at him through her brow to see his eyes squeezed shut, his forehead pressed into hers.

            “I would not have allowed you to do that if I didn’t want you to,” she whispered, her breathing still uneven. He smiled at that, a full, wide grin than opened his eyes and she returned it.

            “I have never… wanted to kiss someone like that before,” he confessed and she flushed, looking down at his chest. She wondered what he looked like under his uniform. How much hair the rest of him had….

            “Nor have I wanted a man to kiss me so,” she looked at him through her lashes and he tilted his face so he could brush his lips softly against hers. “I liked that,” she whispered and he did it again. “Mmm.”

            “It is not something we can do in front of others,” he breathed, lifting his mouth to her hair. “But you’re welcome to my quarters whenever you wish to see me, Skaddi.”

            Her heart nearly stopped, hearing him say her name. “Arthur, was it?”

            He chuckled, “Yes, my name is Arthur.”

            “That’s a kingly name,” she complimented and let her head rest against his chest. His size was comforting, and she allowed her arms to drape around his waist.

            “There were ancient kings with the name,” he sighed and kissed her hair. “Come, there’s work to be done. The courser chip that Nate Briars and his mercenary recovered will need decoded and I want to see where he got the information he needed to track down a courser.”

            Most of what he said went right through her ears because she got stuck on the word ‘mercenary’. She had kissed both men, and she knew which one she truly wanted. But she didn’t know if she could turn her back on another ally, not when she’d just gotten him back.


	10. Under the Sea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nate feels that the Brotherhood is taking too long to decode the courser chip, so he takes it elsewhere, and Skaddi is tasked to follow him with her trusty body guards in tow!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Under the Sea ~The Little Mermaid

            “It’s taking too long for your scribes to decode the chip, Maxson. I’m going to take it elsewhere!”

            “To whom, pray tell.”

            “I have friends out there…”

            “Skaddi?”

            The Skaal jumped and turned to see MacCready coming forward with Paladin Danse and Reagan on either side. She stepped away from the wall she was leaning against and unfolded her arms. She shouldn’t have been listening, but she didn’t like how Nate had stormed up to the Elder’s quarters and beat his fist on the door –she’d heard it in her room it was so loud. So she found herself standing outside, listening.

            The past week had bore no more information, the scribes had yet to crack the code to get into the ‘chip’. It looked like a hunk of plastic to her, but they were the experts. She was having fun though. Her forge was almost done and she had been training with the soldiers to show them new styles of hand-to-hand, which Maxson was more than happy to have them learn. No one was able to put her on the ground, but some got close, and she was pleased with how fast they learned.

            Skaddi found her favorite times were spent with Maxson in his quarters talking about Solstheim and the Capital Wasteland, and training with Danse and Reagan. MacCready spent most of his time with Nate who was restricted to the main deck where the food and Proctors were. She hadn’t got to spend a lot of time with him, but then again, she didn’t really know what to say to him.

            Since she and the Elder kissed she had thought about the mercenary and knew that whatever she felt for him was not the same he felt. He was a good friend, and she knew she could not have made it this far without him. But she did not have romantic feelings for him. Skaddi just didn’t know how to tell him this, not when he looked at her with those sky-like eyes.

            “MacCready, Paladin, Knight,” she nodded to them and the door behind her flew open.

            “Mac, we’re leaving, come on,” Nate grunted and pushed passed her with enough force to nearly make her stumble. Nearly.

            Instead he bounced off of her and tripped himself and glared at her. She wasn’t offended or angry, instead she simply lifted a brow. He was such a shy man it impressed her that he was able to do this without pissing himself. The others all gave him disapproving looks ranging depending on their opinions of her. Maxson filled his doorway behind her, and MacCready frowned at his employer.

            “You don’t need to be like that,” he said to Nate as he passed the soldiers and grabbed his arm.

            “I have to find my _son_ , Mac, I thought you of all people would understand that.”

            “I _do_ , Nate, but you can’t find him if you piss off everyone trying to help you,” they went down the hallway and Skaddi narrowed her eyes after them. Reagan folded her arms over her chest and gave Danse a look she didn’t understand. He shared the glance, and then they both looked at her before saluting Maxson.

            The Dragonborn looked up at him as he waved for his soldiers to relax. “I would like you to follow him, see who he’s talking to.”

            “I have an invisibility spell,” she stated and he nodded, looking down the hall.

            “Don’t let him see you.”

            “Of course, Maxson,” she promised and he glanced at her sideways before nodding and turning on his heels to return to his quarters.

            Skaddi glanced back at her guards and smiled, “How good are you at sneaking?”

            Reagan smirked and elbowed the Paladin. “Need me’ta get’cha a stealthboy, sir?”

            “Knight,” he warned and she laughed.

            “I’m only kidding, Jesus, Danse.”

 

 

            Despite Reagan’s jesting, Paladin Danse was quite stealthy. Skaddi and her guards remained completely unseen to Nate and MacCready. Years of tracking game through the snow in Solstheim came in handy when needing to shadow a sniper who was just on the break of paranoia.

            She could tell by how he looked around he wasn’t comfortable.

            Skaddi stopped as the two men slipped into an ally. She turned back to look at Reagan and Danse. “You two stay here, I’ll go on ahead with my invisibility spell.”

            “You shouldn’t go alone,” Danse objected, heavy brows furrow. She frowned at him and Reagan rested a hand on his shoulder. He glanced back at her and sighed. “Fine,” he grunted and then gave her a meaningful look. “If you get into any trouble, use one of your Shouts, we’ll come.”

            “Of course,” Skaddi nodded and grinned at Reagan before casting her spell. The knight settled down to sit comfortably and sort her gear while the Paladin knelt beside her, surveying the landscape.

            The Dragonborn left them and went into the alleyway that the mercenary and Nate disappeared into. It was empty, and she frowned, looking around, wondering where they could have gone. She stopped when she saw a manhole cover, like the ones that she and MacCready had used to find the Railroad. It had white marks on it and she knew it meant ‘ally near by’.

            Her brows pulled together and she frowned. It was like when she looked at a shadowmark for the Thieves Guild. Her necklace must have translated it. She lifted the heavy metal lid and slipped inside.

            When she reached the bottom of the tunnel she recast her invisibility spell to keep from appearing when she found her targets. It took her some time to travel the tunnels, coming to dead ends more than once and she had to cast her spell several more times. Right when she thought she was lost, she saw a light.

            “…almost got it.”

            “Thanks, Tom, it means a lot…”

            “No problem, Nate. This chip will help us a lot. You promise to bring us anything you get when you make it inside, right?”

            “Yeah, I promise. I just… I just want to find my boy.”

            “I got’chu, man.”

            Skaddi stood in the hole busted through the tunnel wall. It was a basement to a building that had been converted to look like the Railroad’s headquarters she’d all but destroyed at the old church. Her lips parted in surprise, and her brows narrowed as she looked over the ten or so people wondering around. One of them was the man in the white coat that thought she was a synth or spy. The one with the eye shields was here as well.

            “Come on, Mac, we’ll need to get back before they send someone after us,” Nate called over to where the mercenary was reclined in a chair, looking bored. He lifted a brow at his employer.

            “If you think we got here without someone tailing us you’re nuts.”

            “You said you didn’t see anyone.”

            “Just because I didn’t see them doesn’t mean they’re not there.”

            The one Nate called Tom lifted his head, he wore a strange hat with tools sticking out of it. “You should use a different exit then, don’t need them finding our new HQ, man. Ain’t got anywhere else to go if this place goes up.”

            “Calm down, Tom,” the man with the white coat stepped in front of Skaddi and she held her breath, not moving. “I have eyes outside, two Brotherhood soldiers are hanging out by the docks, sitting around.”

            The man with eye shields narrowed his brows. “Brotherhood don’t just sit around.”

            MacCready stood up. “Two soldiers? What do they look like?”

            “A man and woman,” the white-coated man shrugged. “What’s wrong with you?”

            MacCready looked at Nate. “Hurry that up if you don’t want them to learn about this place.”

            Skaddi frowned at the mercenary and then at Nate.

            “What is it?”

            The man with eye shields grabbed a gun. “Is it that woman? The one that killed the others?”

            MacCready sighed and stepped up to Tom. “Can you get this done any faster?”

            “Can’t rush this,” he growled and tapped at his machine. She had seen Maxson do something similar at the box he called a ‘terminal’ on his desk. Skaddi hadn’t been terribly interested in it, so she didn’t get too close. “…and… there it is!”

            Skaddi tilted her head and watched Tom shift some things around and then hand Nate a small orange box. “Thanks, Tom.”

            “No problem, Nate. Just remember us when you’re in there. Let us know if you need any more help.”

            Skaddi’s brows drew together. She couldn’t believe that Nate had turned his back on the Brotherhood like this. And that MacCready was so… okay with it. It hurt her heart, and she watched them walk right by her to leave, taking a different way out. She followed them to the surface, keeping quiet.

            When she got back to Danse and Reagan the two were pacing, eyes everywhere but on each other. The Paladin saw Skaddi first, and stopped where he was to address her.

            “Where have you been? What happened?”

            Reagan stepped up to his side and waited for her answer. “The Railroad, he went to the Railroad. They… unlocked that chip thing. He and MacCready are headed to the Glowing Sea. Where is that?”

            “Why’re they going there?”

            Skaddi shrugged. “They did not say.”

            Reagan frowned and bit her lip, “Maybe they’re going to whoever told them about the courser?”

            “Virgil? They said they talked to him in a cave near Quincy.”

            Skaddi’s brows drew together. “Could they have lied?”

            “If they did they decided on the lie ahead of time, we questioned them separately and their stories matched up,” Danse pressed his knuckles into his palms to crack them. Then he glared passed Skaddi. “We should follow them.”

            “Aye,” Skaddi nodded but frowned. “How do we tell Maxson where we’re going?”

            “I’ll radio it in and catch up to you two,” Reagan said and put her bag down to start rifling through it.

            Danse nodded and waved for Skaddi to lead the way.

 

 

            The Glowing Sea was no body of water. Skaddi stood in front of the Paladin and Knight to stare at the mass of green mist and scorched earth that stretched out in front of her farther than she could make out. She narrowed her eyes and then tilted her face up toward the sky.

            “Is it always like this?”

            “Yes.”

            Skaddi frowned and sucked in a deep breath then Shouted, “ _Lok Vah Koor!_ ”

            Both soldiers staggered back a step, as she did not simply say the words as she had most of her Shouts. This time she forced her entire body into it and physically shouted the words. The green mist began to pull back, fading and clearing the skies.

            “Shit,” Reagan breathed and the Dragonborn looked back at them.

            “Come, before it returns.”

            They ran at a steady pace, Skaddi leading them as she cast her Detect Life spell, avoiding the collections of irradiated animals and ghouls. She followed two marks that knew they were being followed. They weren’t trying to hide now, and the Skaal woman knew if she had to she could Whirlwind Sprint to them and close the distance. She would only leave her guards if she had to though.

            The green mist began to close in on them again and Skaddi turned her face back up to the sky. Reagan grabbed her shoulder. “No, take two of these,” she said and handed the Dragonborn a couple of small seeds.

            “What is this?”

            “They’re Rad-X. We don’t need the sky cleared anymore, we need them to think we lost them so they’ll take us to Virgil.”

            Skaddi glanced at Danse who threw back two of the seeds and swallowed them, grimacing as he watched the sky darken. She turned her eyes back on Reagan who offered her a can of purified water as well. She nodded once and took them, putting the seeds in her mouth.

            “Don’t chew it, just swallow.”

            Skaddi shifted the thick Rad-Xs off of her teeth and tried to swallow them but they stuck to her tongue. Reagan pushed the water toward her and she drank it, getting them unstuck and down her throat.

            “There you go,” Reagan grinned when Skaddi coughed and handed her back the water. She took two and shook her head, finishing the water. “I hate taking pills, you’d think with my gag reflex it’d be easier,” she chuckled and Danse choked.

            “Knight.”

            “Sorry,” she smirked and shrugged, grinning at Skaddi who felt like she missed something. “We should get moving.”

            “Yes,” Danse agreed and stepped around Reagan, holding his gun in front of him.

            Skaddi nodded and turned around to cast her Detect Life spell and stiffened. Reagan and Danse glanced up and the Knight sighed. “Well shit.”

            The glowing deathclaw stood, watching them, green eyes flicking between Skaddi and her companions. Its massive hands hung heavily in front of it while it breathed slowly, rolling its shoulder with the effort to fill its lung with the clear air. It seemed to become easier for it as the mist returned from the sky.

            Skaddi stepped forward, suddenly wishing she knew more than one word for her Animal Allegiance Shout. “ _Raan_ ,” she breathed and wave washed over the animal.

            The deathclaw took a step forward and she took one back. The soldiers both readied their weapons, aiming at the beast as it bowed its head and bared mismatching teeth at the Dragonborn. It stepped toward her again and lowered onto its hands. She held her ground, seeing the ends of the guns in the corners of her eyes. They were going to fire if it attacked.

            Skaddi lifted a hand a started to lean toward the animal.

            Then it growled and snapped at her.

            The Paladin and Knight fired and Skaddi jumped back, barely saving her arm from being bitten off. Danse put himself between the deathclaw and the Skaal as she grabbed her bow and one of her four arrows. Reagan knelt and fired at the soft flesh of the inner thighs while the Paladin kept the focus on him, shooting for the face and drawing the massive claws his way.

            Skaddi loosed her arrow, striking the deathclaw in the eye. It called out and Danse shot it in the mouth, getting the ridged roof and bringing the animal down.

            The Paladin stepped back, narrowly avoiding getting crushed by the beast. Reagan stood up and went over to him, giving him a quick once over before looking at the glowing blood pooling around the animal. “Best be going before more are drawn,” she sighed and looked at Skaddi who stepped up to retrieve her arrow. It was broken, the head shattered against the skull.

            Throwing the arrow down she huffed and stepped over the beast and headed in the direction that MacCready and Nate had been.

 

 

            Skaddi shifted and glared around, sleep threatening to take over. She hated this. She wanted to run right in and see what Nate was doing with this ‘Virgil’ character. They had been running through this Glowing Sea for over a day without rest. The prickling in her skin made her stomach churn, and she knew it had to do with the radiation that tainted the air. Reagan tapped her shoulder and she looked back at the Knight.

            Two more seeds.

            The Dragonborn sighed and took them with the water, noticing how Reagan frowned into her bag as she flipped through their supplies. Danse’s attention was locked on the mouth of the cave that MacCready and Nate had gone into.

            “What is it?” Skaddi lifted a brow at the Knight.

            “Oh, just,” she shook her head and lowered her voice, her honey eyes flicking up to Danse. “We only have one more purified water, and three Rad-Xs. I don’t think it’s enough to get back out…. It took us so long to get to this point,” she frowned and shook her head. “We should have stocked up before coming out here…. They’re probably stocked up, and sleeping in there tonight. We can’t just camp right here.”

            Skaddi frowned and stood up, looking for anything close by. “Perhaps we should find cover? The clouds are getting thicker…”

            Danse stood up and frowned at the cave. “We need to know if they’re still in there or left through another exit…”

            The Skaal shifted and lifted her hands to begin to cast a spell. Reagan put her hand on her arm. “What’re you doing?”

            “I’m casting a tracking spell, it’ll show me where MacCready is,” she pulled against the woman’s grasp and then recast Clairvoyance. A golden path lit up in front of her heading for the cave. It was bright, telling her that her target was not far. Before the spell could reach him, she let it fall and looked between her guards. “They’re still inside.”

            Danse’s lips turned down in a way that told her he wasn’t going to fight her, but he still wasn’t comfortable not having eyes on them. Reagan nodded and threw the duffle bag onto her back. “Well, since you have that nifty spell I think I saw a Red Rocket Station back that way… we could hunker down there for the night, see if there is anything in the area we could use.”

            “Anything here will be so heavily irradiated it would be useless to us,” Danse turned toward the Knight. She shrugged.

            “Rad-X and Radaway are still going to be fine, and we’re low, sir,” she breathed. Skaddi looked at them, how Reagan’s tone shifted, softening to avoid starting a conflict. The higher-ranking soldier looked her over with hard eyes –he always had hard eyes. The Skaal woman knew that the Knight had more feelings for the Paladin than she spoke out loud, and that he saw. Beyond that, they were a great team, able to communicate with little words and understood each other enough that not once had they disagreed passed a single statement. Skaddi wondered how far back they went, they had to have a lot of experience working with one another.

            “All right, we’ll go to the Red Rocket Station,” he relented and paid the cave a final glance before waving for the Knight to lead the way.

            The Station was half in the ground, which confused Skaddi. Had it… be built that way? Sinking into the earth that way? She tilted her head at it while Reagan stepped up to the door and pried it open, pushing it with all her strength. Danse came to her side and she waved him off.

            “I got it,” she huffed and then the metal bent to her will. “Would have been easier with a suit, huh?” she smirked up at the Paladin who actually grinned at that and nodded.

            Skaddi came up, following them carefully as they each slid into the building. It was at such a harsh angle they had to walk on walls and counters to keep from falling down to the bottom. The Dragonborn could see piles of boxes and supplies that had done just that, stacked up at the back of the station.

            “I’ll check the stash, you two start getting some semblance of order going,” Reagan stepped over the counter and fell down into the pile with a soft landing and a quiet grunt.

            Skaddi grinned and looked at Danse who sighed and opened the duffle bag. He frowned at the state of their supplies and then lifted something up out of the bag. It was a gun and his eyes narrowed at it.

            “Knight, what’s this?”

            “I can’t see it.”

            “It’s a shotgun…”

            “Well, sir, that would be a _shotgun_ then wouldn’t it?”

            Skaddi clapped a hand over her mouth to hide her smile and Danse glared, standing up and walking carefully over to look down at her in the pit. “I know _what_ it is, I want to know why it’s with our supplies?”

            Reagan cleared her throat. “I found it.”

            “We have laser rifles, we don’t need these.”

            “Well I like shotguns, I never get to use them. Besides, we’re running low on ammo –we weren’t meant to go on such a long mission. We need to use what we find and I found Day Maker, so I’m–”

            “You _named_ it?”

            “Hey, we all name our shit. My rifle’s Good Death, you were there when I named it. For Christ’s sake, you named yours Righteous Authority.” The Paladin sighed and looked down at the shotgun in his hands and lifted it to look down its length, through the ring at the end. “You like it…”

            Danse sighed again and turned back to Skaddi and settled down beside her. “She’s going to be the death of me,” he breathed quietly so Reagan couldn’t hear. The nord shook her head and patted his shoulder.

            “She’s just the right amount of excitement for you, Danse.”

            He lifted a black brow at her and opened his mouth to speak, but Reagan called out loudly. “By Maxson’s beard! I found Fancy Lad Cakes!”

            “Did you just swear by the Elder’s beard?” Skaddi lifted a brow.

            “ _Danse_! You _love_ Fancy Lad Cakes!” With one glance at the Paladin she could see the sheer _need_ he was suffering from, but all of his military training was begging him to show restraint.

            “They’re… they’re not going to be good,” he shook his head.

            “It’s unopened!”

            “And… heavily… heavily irradiated,” he coughed and closed his eyes. Skaddi had never seen someone try so hard to fight the want for a snack.

            “Hey… Sebastian?”

            There was a groan from the Paladin. “Yes, Reagan?”

            “Can I keep Day Maker if I give you this full… unopened… _clean_ box of Fancy Lad Cakes?” Skaddi watched the man’s jaw tighten and his hands ball into fists, when he spoke, his voice was off, too high.

            “It’s _clean_?”

            “Yes, sir.”

            The Paladin nodded and then sighed. “Yes, Reagan, you can keep the gun.”

            “Yay!”

            Suddenly a pink box flew over Skaddi’s head and the Paladin caught it before it fell through a doorway at his side into another part of the Station. He glanced at the Dragonborn and flushed.

            “This is very embarrassing.”

            She just shook her head and smiled as he sighed and opened the clean box and took out one of the treats. He looked as though he was committing a sin and was on the break of tears as he bit into it, avoiding looking at her while she giggled to self.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, foreshadowing with Fancy Lad Snack Cakes... /sigh/ Dansey, I love you


	11. I Won't Say (I'm in Love)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More than one close call in the Glowing Sea, more than one kind of surprise too....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I Won't Say (I'm in Love) ~Hercules

            Skaddi woke up to a soft groan. She looked around the dark, empty station. Danse was outside on watch, but Reagan had been here when she went to sleep. Another groan, this one muted.

            The Dragonborn shifted out of the sleeping bag and quietly moved to the edge of the wall that lead to the pit. She could just see there was a door down there, and it was hanging mostly closed. Was Reagan down there? Hurt?

            Skaddi lowered her self down onto the stacked boxes the Knight used to climb out. A gasp came from the room, and the Skaal quickly finished climbing down the makeshift stairs and stood on the old desks and machines that had filled the space before sliding down to this point.

            “Ah–Se–Sebastian,” Reagan grunted just as the Dragonborn lifted the door to look inside. What she saw was not an injured soldier like she thought, or both of her guards as she imagined upon hearing the name accompanied by a satisfied sigh. But what she did see made her flush brightly.

            The Knight was lying against the wall, legs spread wide while her uniform’s lower latch was unbuckled exposing her sex to the cool air. Her flight suit was unzipped enough that her breasts hung out and her bra was pushed down. One of her hands was massaging her perked nipple while the other was draped over her thigh, relaxing as she panted, catching her breath. Her fingers dripped, soaked like the space between her legs.

            Then she noticed she was being watched. “Oh, fuck–Christ, Skaddi! What the hell?” The knight leapt up, stumbling slightly and turned her back to the Skaal, fixing her uniform and stuttering for an explanation. “I was just–it’s been a little while. I–don’t tell Danse, he’ll be so mad I’m doing this! Oh God, did you–did you hear me?”

            She turned and Skaddi blush brightly. “Aye, you said the Paladin’s name…”

            “Fuck…” Reagan rubbed her forehead with her clean hand and wiped the other on her uniform. “Don’t–please don’t tell him…”

            “You love him.” Skaddi lifted a hand a casted Magelight. The white orb illuminated the space enough that she could see the Knight.

            Reagan glanced up at her words and then narrowed her eyes against the light. Her face was bright red under her freckles, from ear to ear and down to her lips. The Knight was one of the best fighters that Skaddi had seen here. At age twenty-one, she was of a high rank and one of their Elder’s most trusted soldiers and friends. The woman wasas hard as the armor she wore, and smiled every chance she got. And now she looked at Skaddi like the young, embarrassed woman she was.

            “I do, I have for…” she closed her eyes and shook her head. “He’s all protocol and Brotherhood, I don’t think he ever thinks of love or sex or… family.”

            “Why don’t you ask him?”

            Reagan laughed. “Really? Just walk up to my CO and ask him if he wants to go on a date? Or you know…” she flushed again and shook her head, looking down at the ground. “I… I don’t know about Skyrim, but here a lot of people just… sleep around. I mean, I do it too, but,” she gestured up at the wall that was acting as their current ceiling, “I don’t just want to sleep with him. I want… I want us to be together, and I want to get married and have kids,” she sighed, looking sad. “There’s nothing wrong with marrying inside the Brotherhood, but it’s different when one has command over the other.”

            Skaddi frowned and bit her lip. She didn’t know how to help the Knight. She wasn’t familiar with how this land worked. But how sad Reagan looked hurt her and she wanted nothing more than to help her. “You could tell him how you feel, and see from there, you won’t know his thoughts until he knows how you feel.”

            Reagan snorted. “Danse doesn’t… do feelings. Not unless it’s something he can equate to his gear as much so as a person. Those damn Fancy Lad Cakes for instance, he doesn’t even say he likes them, he will flat out refuse to speak about his feelings about them.”

            Skaddi nodded and pressed her lips into a line. “Just… don’t wait until it’s too late, Reagan.”

            She shook her head. “We’re soldiers, we can die at any moment from any thing. I have… I’ve loved him since I was eight, I don’t think I’m going to ever tell him at the rate I’m going.”

            “I could mention–”

            “No.”

            Skaddi nodded, closing her lips when the Knight snapped at her. It wasn’t her place, but she felt like Reagan was the closest thing to a female friend she had in this land, she felt a connection to the Knight. “I won’t say anything, Reagan, but you should stop waiting. He will not act, no matter his feelings for you.”

            A flash of hope took her honey gaze, and then she blinked it away. “I’ll think about it.” Skaddi nodded and then turned. “Hey… was I… like… loud?”

            “Not really, I just heard the… groans,” she cleared her throat and shrugged. “I thought you might have been hurt.”

            “Oh, okay, thanks,” Reagan sighed and looked around as if to find something to do until Skaddi left her alone.

 

 

            Danse was totally oblivious. Skaddi couldn’t understand how he couldn’t see how Reagan smiled at him and shot flirts his way and flushed when he gave her a compliment. The Dragonborn wanted to slap him over the head and yell at him. He was an excellent soldier, how could he not see the obvious?

            MacCready and Nate were moving ahead of them quickly, and from what she could tell, they didn’t know they were being followed. But they had to have more supplies than Skaddi and her guards as they didn’t stop their retreat from the sea. Skaddi and the soldiers had to though, when they came down to their last three Rad-X seeds.

            “We still have half a day’s run…” Reagan frowned and Danse pushed the seeds back to her.

            “Save them for you and Skaddi as needed.”

            “Sir,” Reagan protested and he shook his head.

            “Come on,” he started jogging and Reagan gave Skaddi a seed.

            “Here, just take one for now, tell me when it wears off.”

            They followed the Paladin and Skaddi kept her eye on them both. The Knight was taking on a pale complexion with a sickly undertone, and Danse was no better. She lifted her healing spells and cast it on them. They both staggered in their run and looked at her, stunned, but nothing happened. The Skaal frowned and clenched her jaw. The radiation worked like a poison or disease, she would need a potion for it.

            The Dragonborn grumbled to herself and watched as her guards’ paces gradually slowed and their conditions got worse. Danse went down first.

            “Oh my God,” Reagan gasped when the Paladin stumbled forward and hit the ground in a hard thud. Skaddi and the Knight went to him, pulling him from the cracked ground and got him up onto his knees.

            “I… can’t…” he breathed, brown eyes hazy and bloodshot. Skaddi lifted her healing spell again but his condition didn’t change. They carefully lied him back down.

            “Reagan, I can’t fix this,” the Skaal whispered and she nodded, pushing things around in their bag until she pulled out a pouch that the nord knew to cure radiation poisoning. As the soldier prepared it Skaddi turned her face to the sky.

            “ _Lok_ ,” she called to it softly. The mist around them cleared and Reagan took a deep breath of fresh air.

            “Oh thank God,” she whispered and adjusted Danse so that his head was in her lap, off the ground, and pulled off the Paladin’s glove to show his forearm, then she stuck him in the wrist with the medicine. “Please don’t need all of this,” she breathed to the man and brushed his black hair from his forehead. It was greasy and stuck to his skin with sweat. Reagan’s gloved hand ran right into the thick locks and Skaddi watched the way the Knight looked down at him, tears rimming her eyes. “You’re gonna be okay, Danse,” she held the pouch up, but her arm shook. The Dragonborn stood and took the medicine from her to allow the Knight a moment of rest.

            “I’m sorry,” Skaddi whispered.

            Reagan looked up, brows lifted, “Why?”

            “We should have gotten more supplies before coming here, I didn’t…. I didn’t think of that. In Skyrim… it’s not as…” she didn’t know what to say, it seemed like this land was so much harsher than her home, that everything was out to kill you, even the landscape.

            “We didn’t have time, we would have lost them,” Reagan waved toward the direction of Nate and MacCready.

            “I could have used Clairvoyance to find them here, we had time…”

            Reagan frowned and looked back down at the Paladin. “Don’t blame yourself, Skaddi, he’s going to be fine.”

            They went quiet and Reagan brushed her fingers through Danse’s hair, her other hand holding his tightly. She wished the Knight would tell him how she felt. What would have happened if they didn’t have that medicine? Skaddi glared privately, looking around as the air around them grew thicker.

            “Wha… Reagan,” Danse’s hard eyes looked around and then he saw the needle in his arm. “Why did you–?”

            “You were going to die, sir,” she breathed and removed the medicine from his wrist and helped him put his glove back on. Reagan looked weak, her skin had a heavy green undertone and she had dark circles under her eyes. Her honey irises were dark, black as the pupil and expanding out into the whites of her eyes.

            “Reagan,” Danse took her face to steady her gaze on him. “You’re…. You need a Radaway,” he went to the bag, his movements sluggish from heavy limbs.

            “I used the only one we had on you, Sebastian,” she breathed, her voice weak.

            Skaddi hissed and jumped forward when the Knight swayed.

            “Damn it! Knight?” he circled his arms around her and then lifted her up. “Come on, we have to get her out of this radiation,” Danse stood, holding Reagan to his chest. He swayed but was determined and Skaddi grabbed the bag.

            “What’s happens if she gets too much radiation?”

            “One of two things,” he gritted his teeth. “She dies, or something much worse.”

            “What is worse than death?” Skaddi could imagine several things, but none seemed very common in this land –necromancers for instance seemed to be non-existent.

            “She could turn into a ghoul…”

 

 

            When they made it out of the Glowing Sea Danse had Skaddi use a smoke grenade from the bag and call a vertibird. There was a Brotherhood way station not far from their location and the ‘bird came quickly. They used the radaways in the onboard medkit. They flew right for the Prydwen from their ecav point.

            When they docked Skaddi kept back while scribes helped Danse remove Reagan from the vertibird and rush her off to the medbay. She was left to find her way alone, so she went to Elder Maxson.

            He was on the Command Deck, speaking with Lancer-Captain Kells about something called Prime. She didn’t catch much before they stopped talking, hearing her approach. Maxson’s back stiffened when he looked her over. “Ice-Hunter, were are Danse and Knight?”

            “The medbay, Reagan took… too many rads. Danse said something about her turning into a ghoul…?” she was confused and exhausted and irradiated and didn’t really know what to do. She didn’t want to just follow the others, there were so many people to fit in that small medbay….

            “My God,” Kells breathed and looked at Maxson.

            The Elder’s jaw was tight, his fists balled up, but nothing else about him gave away how upset he was. “How bad was her condition upon arrival?”

            “She was unconscious, and her eyes were nearly black. Her skin was still smooth,” Skaddi offered, hoping that would help.

            He nodded and then came closer to her, his brows pulling together to pucker the space between them. “You need treated.”

            “Aye, but I don’t want to crowd the medbay anymore,” she frowned, and looked down at the state of her uniform. It was tattered, stained and ripped with burned holes from the acidic ground she hadn’t even noticed bit into her skin. She looked back up and met the steel blue eyes of the Elder before her.

            “Kells, you’re dismissed, we’ll continue this discussion later. Tell Ingram of our plans to move forward.”

            “Yes, sir,” the red guard took his leave of them.

            “Come, I’ll help you,” Maxson, rested a hand on her back and urged her forward.

            They climbed up to the main deck and then stepped up to his door. She followed him in and sat in one of his chairs as he found a medkit and started to withdraw supplies from it. Through the open door and passed the hole where the ladder was, she could see the medbay. Danse was standing in the hallway, head pressed against the wall he was leaning against, his fists balled up at his sides. He had been stripped out of his armor and was only in his flight suit, but his gloves were pulled off and a metal stand held a radaway up beside his head. It was attached to the arm he gripped the stand with. He looked like he was in pain, but not the physical kind.

            “Arthur?”

            “Yes?”

            The Elder settled into a chair beside her and she kept her eyes on the Paladin. “Reagan has romantic feelings for Danse…”

            “I know.”

            Skaddi looked over at the man and frowned at him while he removed her glove and moved her uniform, cleaning a spot in the crease of her elbow. “You know?”

            “Yes,” he glanced up at her briefly. “Reagan and I have been friends since we were children. She grew up in the Brotherhood, her father was one of our most respectable Lancer-Captains and her mother is an excellent Senior Scribe back in the Capital Wasteland. When I came here she was the first of my peers to treat me as a kid instead of the next Elder.” He sighed and leaned back, holding up the radaway. “But, she never overstepped, and she always knew who I was going to be.”

            “So she told you of her feelings?”

            “I knew before she voiced them. I allowed her to be under his command because I knew it would make her happy and give them more time together. Danse…” he shook his head and also looked down the hall at the Paladin. “He has the same feelings for her. I hoped they would take the time I gave them to tell each other, but Reagan is too stubborn, and Danse too oblivious.”

            Skaddi frowned deeply. “In Skyrim marriage is as simple as wearing an amulet of Mara. When you’re looking to find someone, you put it on and go about your day. Helping people is the best way to find someone; courtship is short, nearly non-existent. Once someone sees you’re looking for marriage, you express your interest in them as well, and then go to the Temples of Mara….”

            The Elder’s brows drew together. “What can you know of a person with such little interaction?”

            Skaddi glanced over at him. “Interest isn’t gained at first glance. It’s earned with work. For example, a man, Vilkas fancies me. When we first met, he could barely stand my being around. He thought I was only interested in joining his order because I sought another title. I worked with his people for a month until I was accepted into their highest honor, the Circle.” She tilted her head, “That was still not enough for him, he did not trust me, not until events led to their leader being killed, and I assisted them in purifying his soul so that he can live in Sovngarde rather than in Hircine’s Hunting Grounds.”

            “Once you did this he fell for you,” the Elder lifted a brow.

            “He became more accepting of me, but he did not show true interest until I assisted in purifying his soul as well.”

            He nodded and cleared his throat, looking down at the radaway. “You have many suitors then, I imagine.”

            “Aye,” she sighed and looked down the hallway at the Paladin who was speaking quietly with a scribe. “I was never ready for that kind of commitment, I… I always had to leave, and I could not do that to someone I entrusted my heart with.”

            “Now you’re here, looking to go home,” the man beside her said and sat a little straighter.

            Skaddi looked over at him. His steel blue gaze was on her arm, the rustic liquid falling down into her. “Are you interested in me, Arthur?”

            “I will not lie, I am,” he sighed, and looked into her eyes. “I wanted to get to know you better. But you come from a land where everything is done differently. Here, we… take our time, get to know the person we’re interested in, and in your land you can go from near enemies to lovers in a month?”

            “Less than that sometimes, some are harder to impress,” she let a small smile grace her lips and he shook his head, resting his elbow on his knee as he leaned forward and held the radaway up.

            “My whole life I’ve been reminded I’m the last of my line, and that I need to marry, have children, as many as possible to continue the Maxson name,” he kept his eyes on the point where the needle disappeared into her skin. “I have yet to find a woman that holds my interest, that isn’t… either obsessed with the idea of being a Maxson, or intimidated by it.” Their eyes locked and she tilted her head to the side. “And here you come, a beautiful war maiden from another world.”

            “It is the greatest honor to continue a family name with as much power as yours. You should have your choice of women,” she whispered and he shook his head.

            “I don’t want to just pick a woman, I want her to want _me_ for the reasons I want her.”

            “What do you seek in a woman?”

            “You,” Maxson breathed and she flushed.

            “Arthur…” she glanced back out into the hall to see if anyone was looking their way. “You want to get to know me?”

            “Yes, a courtship, with time where we spend alone together and learn more of each other.”

            “But… what of my returning home?” she whispered, looking at him with sad eyes. Would she be willing to stay for him? Or him leave for her?

            There was no way he would leave his army to accompany her back to Skyrim…. But maybe she could stay for him. She defeated the World Eater, Tamriel was safe, and she was planning on settling down. Now could be her chance…

            “That option will always be open to you, Skaddi, I will not hold you here against your will,” he swore and she nodded.

            “All right,” the Dragonborn blushed and then looked down at his large hand on her forearm. He was warm, like a flame, and hard like the steel around them.

            Arthur smiled and leaned in, pressing a reserved kiss to her cheek. “I’ll plan a date then, if you like.”

            Her bright cheeks flushed more and she looked out at the open door before returning her pale eyes to him. “Aye, that would be… nice.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because Maxson struck me as the "Won't lie, I am" kinda guy, but also, that didn't feel right... I don't know, I could be wrong, but it felt right, not so sappy, not completely heartless. xD


	12. Poor Unfortunate Soul

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skaddi was just looking to take a relaxing shower, but her past actions are still haunting her, even if it isn't all her fault.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Unfortunate Soul ~Little Mermaid

            “Hah, you thought you could get rid of me that easy?” Reagan coughed when she tried to laugh. Her eyes were still black, but she looked much healthier. Danse was sitting beside her while Skaddi stood. She glanced between the two soldiers.

            The Paladin bowed his head and clenched his jaw. “You shouldn’t joke like that.”

            “Danse, I’m trying to make light of a heavy situation,” she sighed and flung her hand over to rest it on his head. It was funny to watch. She could barely move with the needles and tubes hooked up to her filtering her blood, so when she did finally work up the strength to move something she had to get it just right so as not to unplug something _and_ she only had enough energy for a quick burst.

            The man allowed her to tangle her fingers in his hair and Skaddi resisted yelling at them both to just fess up to their feelings. Never in her life had she seen such a painfully obvious pair of humans so attracted to each other and the other not be aware of it. It nearly made her sick.

            “Maxson wants you both to take a few days,” the Dragonborn informed them and then grinned. “Proctor Quinlan says my forge will be completed and fired up tomorrow afternoon. Then I can start on my armor…”

            Reagan grinned. “Watch it, you’ll get those scribes coming in their pants.”

            “Knight,” Danse lifted his head from her touch to give her a disapproving glare. She just laughed at him and stared at his face with her black eyes. Skaddi froze, watching the man’s expression shift as he looked at them. Then he looked down again, sadness masking his expression.

            Skaddi wondered why he seemed so sad. She was expected to fully recover given time. Knight-Captain Cade said it might take some time for her eyes to return to their original color, but she was still and would remain human. Reagan’s hand now hung off the side of the bed, her fingers brushing the stubble on the side of Danse’s face.

            “I’m going to give you some time,” the Skaal stepped back and gave the Knight a narrowed look that she hoped the woman understood.

            Across from the medbay was Quinlan’s office. She stepped inside and greeted the skinny Proctor who grinned widely at her.

            “Ah, Dragonborn, come to check on the status of your forge? Or perhaps with more stories to tell?”

            She settled down in the chair he always offered her and she shook her head, “Another time, I actually wanted to ask about Nate. You and he talked for a time before he left, aye?”

            “Yes, I spoke with Mr. Briars several times before his… rude departure.”

            “What can you tell me about him?”

            “Now, Dragonborn, I do not share your personal history with others, nor shall I with Mr. Briars’.”

            Skaddi frowned at that and looked around. “How about a trade? I will give you whatever information you wish or craft any weapon or armor within my ability in exchange for this information?”

            Quinlan’s brows frowned. “Would you not have already?”

            “No longer will I,” she met his stare evenly and he pursed his lips.

            “So you would cut me off of any more information and research regarding you and your homeland unless I give you information on Nathan Briars?”

            Skaddi nodded once. “I don’t require much. I simply want to know what his story is.”

            “Very well then. He was born before the war, over two hundred years ago, and frozen in cryo storage by a Vault making him _almost_ as interesting as you, Dragonborn.” Quinlan slowly lowered himself into a chair as he spoke and then relaxed, seeming happy to have a reason to get off his feet. The Skaal frowned, though.

            “He keeps saying things about finding his son?”

            “It appears Mr. Briars’ son was stolen from him while he was in cryo. His wife was shot, as she would not give up the boy. The child was taken by a mercenary who worked for the Institute, before Mr. Briars…” Quinlan cleared his throat. “It would have been better for us all if the Vault Dweller had been able to resist killing the mercenary, but his rage got the better of him.”

            “Where does Virgil come into play?”

            “Virgil was the mercenary’s next target, a scientist that worked for the Institute before running away. He is also a super mutant,” he said in a hushed tone and Skaddi glared, but nodded for him to continue. “Anyway, Virgil promised to help our Mr. Briars in exchange for a serum he made back in the Institute that can cure him.”

            “Why would he lie about Virgil’s whereabouts?”

            “Perhaps to save him, Mr. Briars knows we do not tolerate super mutants.”

            Skaddi nodded and pursed her lips. “Could he be lying about other details?”

            Quinlan nodded, seeming to have already thought about that. “I am checking all of his tellings against the notes I already have on pre-war life and I have had a couple of scribes sent to the Vault he said he came out of.”

            Skaddi nodded and ran her fingers through her hair. “Thank you, Proctor. Was there anything in particular you would like me to craft you?”

            The man’s eyes widened and he grinned. “Well, I could never decide. Whatever you make I will find most interesting.”

            The Skaal stood and nodded. “Perhaps a dagger, one you can keep in your robe,” she offered and saw the way his eyes brightened.

            “That would be most appreciated, Dragonborn.”

            Skaddi bowed her head and pressed her fist to her heart, taking her leave of him.

 

 

            The water was hot and felt great against her skin. Other women were in the washroom, but Skaddi had removed her necklace so she could have a break of listening to everyone speak and just focus on herself. The shower was just what she needed. She let the water beat the stains in her skin out and wash away the grease in her hair.

            The Skaal tipped her head under the stream and ran her fingers through her thick hair, scratching at the scalp and following the length down passed her shoulders to work out the knots. Then something hit her in the stomach and a few women laughed.

            Skaddi opened her eyes and glared through the water dripping down her face at the women across from her. One bent to pick up the bar of soap and smirked at the other woman at her side. The one with the soap was a redhead with pale skin and rosy cheeks, curvy, pout lips, and a thin, lean body while the other was a soft muscled, taller girl with tiny breasts and a flat rear.

            The Dragonborn had seen the redhead before, she worked a lot with Lancer-Sergeant Michael Glass. She was his co-pilot on the Primair. The Skaal didn’t know the other woman.

            The redhead said something and Skaddi casted her translation spell for the first time since she made her necklace. “Excuse me?”

            “Oh, right, I forgot you don’t speak English,” the redhead sighed. “I said sorry.”

            “It’s fine,” the Dragonborn dropped the spell and the taller girl snort-laughed something. The redhead nodded and smirked at the Skaal. Skaddi recast the spell, “Is there something else?”

            “Oh no, nothing,” both women shook their heads, trying to hold down smiles. The Dragonborn glared and dropped the spell, turning her back to the women to complete her shower.

            More words. More laughs. Then the soap hit Skaddi again, right in the spine below her hair. The Skaal turned to look over her shoulder and lifted the spell. “You’re tormenting me.”

            “And you got two of my fellow pilots killed without punishment. Looks like we can just do whatever we want right?”

            Skaddi turned around and glared at the woman. “You blame me for their deaths?”

            “It is your fault, you needed that necklace _so_ badly. Where is it now? Did you give it Maxson so you can talk to him without us understanding you? What’re you even doing here? Why don’t you just go home?”

            Skaddi’s heart hurt at her words. She didn’t know what question to answer. Never had she been addressed like this, and she didn’t know how to handle it. Her anger flared and she clenched her jaw. The nord woman let the spell fall away and returned to her shower. She shouldn’t engage, if she engaged she could get in trouble and that would cause more problems than it would solve.

            Giggles. Words. The bar of soap hitting her in the back of the head.

            Skaddi grabbed her hair, giving it a tug to keep from turning around and Unrelenting Forcing the women into the shower walls.

            Words.

            Giggles.

            Words.

            Skaddi spun around and caught the soap as it flew toward her. Her glare landed heavily on the redhead who glared back at her with emerald eyes. The Skaal squeezed the soap until it crumbled in her hand and the thinner woman’s eyes widened. She gulped and whispered something. The redhead shook her head. This time when she spoke, Skaddi didn’t lift her spell. She rinsed her hand off in the water, pale blue eyes locked on the lancer’s face, and then grabbed her towel, wrapping it around herself and leaving, not bothering to collect the shampoo and body wash Reagan had given her. She needed to get out of there or she was going to do something she regretted.

            Back in her quarters, Skaddi sat down on the bed and took in a shaking breath. Tears burned her eyes. She hadn’t cried since she came here. Not for the land she lost, not for the people she’d killed, not for the pain she had suffered, but now she wanted to cry because two women _picked_ on her in the shower.

            She felt stupid and like a child. She was the Dragonborn, Defeater of Alduin the World Eater, Harbinger of the Companions, Leader of the Thieves Guild, Listener of the Dark Brotherhood… thane of the nine Holds of Skyrim… Champion of Ulfric Stormcloak the True High King… and four Deadric Princes…

            But what did that mean here?

            Nothing.

            She was Skaddi Ice-Hunter here, and the only special thing about her was her magic and Shouting. If she didn’t have those two things she would have been treated differently. Like a person rather than a weapon. She would have been ignored, or forced to prove herself to these people instead of handed the trust she had been.

            She was the reason two Lancers were dead, the reason two suits of Brotherhood armor were destroyed –that armor could have helped Danse and Reagan in the Glowing Sea, and then they would not have suffered as they did, as they were. All for a necklace that allowed her to talk without magic. It seemed like such a great thing…

            She opened her pale eyes and looked over to her desk where she’d put the necklace. It had been put on the fresh uniform she was given. When Skaddi stood to retrieve it, her heart stopped. It wasn’t there.

            She ran over to the desk, her towel falling to the ground.

            “No, no no no,” she breathed in her native tongue, looking around the room. Maybe she moved it? Put it in a drawer? She checked and felt her heart sink. The bed was made, but she tore it apart to see if it somehow made it into the covers. “No, this can’t be,” she felt those tears beg to stream down her cheeks. Not now, not when she was so weak….

            There was a knock on her door. Of course.

            Skaddi grabbed her smallclothes and threw them on quickly, trying to fasten the bra as another few raps on the door sounded, accompanied by the Elder’s voice. Her heart hammered faster and she swallowed against the lump in her throat.

            “A moment,” she breathed, knowing he wouldn’t be able to understand.

            He spoke again and she wanted to cry more as she pulled on the flight suit, struggling to get her thighs into the tight material, and work the zipper up her stomach. The uniform was the wrong size? What the hell, why was everything happening _now_?

            His voice came again and she whimpered, “Please _go_ …”

            Instead, the door opened and she turned her back quickly. Why hadn’t she locked the handle? It was a simple thing, just press the little button.

            His voice was soft. She just shook her head. Her head ached in the back from her magic and from where the Lancer hit her with the bar of soap.

            He spoke again and she felt the tears fall down her cheeks. She lost the battle. They fell down to her neck and into her clothes and her shoulder shook with a sob. Maxson closed the door and then stepped up to her, a warm hand on her shoulder. She shied away and flushed brightly. She was in no state to be seen by him. Her uniform was open and her breasts weren’t tucked into her bra correctly.

            She shook as she turned to him and she squeezed her eyes shut.

            He spoke softly again, and she shook her head, “I can’t understand you, Arthur…”

            His hands wiped away her tears and he pulled her against his hard chest. She slipped her arms around his torso, under his coat without thinking about it and sobbed into his neck. He whispered words into her hair as he held her and she wished she understood him, but his tone was comforting.

            She cried for a long time, the weight of the year before coming here weighting just as much as the last few months. Maxson didn’t rush her. She babbled into his chest, apologizing and making wishes for different past events. He couldn’t understand a word of it, but he stroked her wet hair and kept a strong grip on her while she held on to him.

            He smelled like smoke and alcohol, testosterone and steel, and she loved the mix. Feeling his rough beard scratch at her cheek warmed her, and eased the pain the Lancer woman caused.

            Finally Skaddi removed one hand from under his coat and casted her translation disk, whispering, “I lost my necklace. It was on my desk and now it’s gone.”

            Maxson stiffened. “Someone took it then. Is that why you’re crying?”

            She wanted to laugh. “I would not cry over that, but it did add to my reasoning.”

            “What happened?” he pulled back to look at her face, holding her upper arms.

            “I allowed the actions of others to get to me. I’m only happy I was able to restrain myself with them,” she whispered, looking at the wet spot on his neck down onto his chest from her tears.

            “‘Actions of others’? Someone hurt you?”

            “They were only words,” she cleared her throat and met his glare.

            “What did they say?” She clenched her jaw and he squeezed her arms. “Tell me, Skaddi. I cannot allow my soldiers to treat you this way. It is unacceptable.”

            “She blamed me for the death of those pilots, and asked why I was still here,” she sighed and looked down at his chest again.

            “Did she do anything else?”

            “Aye, she threw a bar of soap at me… several times.”

            Maxson’s arms dropped and he cleared his throat. She looked at his face to see the mask hiding the anger he was suffering from. She could see it in those steel eyes. Skaddi touched his chest, her hand resting over his heart. She could feel his pulse, it was quick and angered. “Who was it? Do you know her name? What she looked like?”

            Skaddi’s spell was aching her head, but she nodded. “The lancer who works with Lancer-Sergeant Glass.”

            “Lancer Juliet O’Conner,” he breathed and gritted his teeth. His nose wrinkled, scrunching the space between his brows as they furrowed. He was angry.

            “Don’t… punish her just because of me.”

            “I need you to be with me when I speak with her, Skaddi. I’ll bring you a better uniform,” he stepped away from her and left, closing the door behind him. The Skaal sighed and let the spell drop, then hit the bed roughly. She put her face in her hands and wondered if it was O’Conner who had stole her necklace. It seemed quite damning that she would bring it up when it went missing.


	13. Hakuna Matata

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> O'Conner is questioned by Maxson, and it doesn't go well. Her necklace if found, and our favorite Elder gets something he's been needing for a long time now...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hakuna Matata ~The Lion King

            Maxson returned with a black uniform that matched his. She put it on while he waited outside the door, and when she started to join him, she saw a familiar set of dusters. Skaddi paused long enough to look at MacCready’s back as he wrenched an arm away from the soldier guiding him and saw Nate just ahead of him.

            The Skaal lifted her spell and said, “When did they get back on board?”

            Maxson paused from where he was climbing down the ladder. “While you were showering. They called a vertibird and arrived here about an hour ago. They’re being questions and their stories will be compared to yours, Danse’s, and Knight’s.”

            Between Maxson helping her with the radaway and visiting Reagan she had given Quinlan a detailed telling of what happened in the Glowing Sea. Danse had followed after her. Reagan was to give hers when she was cleared by Cade to do so.

            “So they’ve been on the ship this whole time?”

            “Yes, with a guard watching them. The mercenary wanted to speak with you, but you were busy,” he added and stepped off the ladder. She followed him down, allowing her spell to fade while she did so.

            That damn aching in the back of her head was almost enough to blur her vision. She couldn’t be sure how long she would be able to hold a conversation with Maxson and O’Conner. She was surprised to see Lancer-Captain Kells waiting for them. The young Elder walked up to his side and turned to look at Skaddi and the redheaded Lancer who stood at attention, waiting to be addressed. Maxson waved for Skaddi to cast her spell and she did.

            “Lancer O’Conner, I have been informed that you accused Ice-Hunter of being the reasons for the deaths of Lancers Shepard and Fairbanks. From there you threw a bar of soap at her several times. You are also under suspicion for unauthorized entry into her personal quarters and removal of her translation necklace. What do you have to say for yourself?”

            “Respectfully, sir, I deny all charges. I’m sure you’re aware of my impeccable record. I would never do something so petty that could jeopardize my position, sir.” Skaddi could not believe what she was hearing. The nord’s lips parted and she openly gaped at the Lancer woman who kept her even emerald gaze on the Elder before her.

            The Dragonborn turned her pale eyes on Maxson, then to Kells who was frowning while standing with his hands behind his back and his feet shoulder width apart. His dark eyes flicked between the Elder and both women. He gave nothing away, just like Maxson who was glaring between Skaddi and O’Conner equally.

            “She’s lying,” the nord growled then.

            Maxson frowned deeper, his pout lips hidden in part by his beard. His heavy brow was furrowed greatly casting his eyes into a shadow that made them look nearly black. He knew O’Conner was lying –he had to know.

            Maxson lifted a hand to Skaddi and turned that steel gaze to the Lancer. “What reason would Ice-Hunter have to lie about this?”

            “I don’t know, sir. I’ve only seen her in passing, I’ve not till now actually spoke around her.”

            “Another lie,” Skaddi barked and glared.

            “Ice-Hunter,” Arthur’s voice was hard, warning, and she looked at him, her brows pulled together hard.

            “I don’t have the magicka for a trial. I told you what happened, Elder,” she spoke quickly, using his rank to show her profession. She wasn’t going to let them twist this into something about their relationship. “May I be excused? I’ve nearly exhausted my energy.” The pain in the back of her head seemed heightened now that O’Conner had struck her in the head with that bar of soap.

            “Very well,” Maxson frowned, his voice returning back to the tone he regularly used with his soldiers. “You’re dismissed, Ice-Hunter.”

            She bowed her head and dropped her spell, pressing her fist to her chest before turning on her heels, shooting a glare at O’Conner, and then taking her leave. She fumed the entire way back to her quarters.

            There was no way he believed that Lancer. She had been _crying_ into his chest for the sake of the Divines. It had to be to keep up appearances. He couldn’t just take Skaddi at her word, not without listening to the other woman, his soldier.

            Skaddi always hated power for this reason. She was in charge of several different organizations, and each needed treated differently. What worked in the Companions would _not_ work in the Thieves Guild, nor for them with the assassins of the Dark Brotherhood.

            If Maxson ignored what O’Conner had to say simply because Skaddi spoke against her, then it would bring into question if his decision was based on their relationship or his better judgment. He told her he was the youngest Elder ever promoted, he was under constant scrutiny, and the last thing she needed to do was add to that. She wanted to help him, not make his life harder.

            Skaddi pushed into her room and nearly had a heart attack.

            MacCready was lying on her bed, relaxed as if the room belonged to him. He was looking at the Amulet of Mara around his neck, but dropped it to his chest when she stepped in. He grinned at her and stood up.

            “Skaddi,” he breathed and closed the door. She stood, staring at him, wondering why he wasn’t with the soldiers that were supposed to be watching him.

           She lifted her spell, “I don’t have a lot of–”

            MacCready lifted his hands and held her face, pulling her to him into a kiss. She nearly gasped, staring widely at him as his sky eyes closed and he pressed against her. Skaddi backed into the wall and then pushed him away to get him off of her.

            The mercenary barely withdrew, confusion lacing his eyes. “What’s wrong?”

            She recast her spell and glared at him, “Why are you kissing me?”

            “I missed you, it’s what you do when you miss someone you’re in a relationship with.”

            “MacCready,” she breathed, her shoulders slumping. She should have told him sooner. “I… I don’t like you romantically.”

            Her pale gaze lifted to him and he frowned, his brows squishing together. “Then why did you give me the necklace?”

            “I told you… I…” she could barely think with the headache burning in her head. “I told you I didn’t want you to forget me. It was the only thing I had….”

            He frowned at her and her spell fizzled away leaving behind a searing pain in her skull. Skaddi pressed a hand to it, and MacCready took her by the elbows and guided her to her bed.

            When she opened her eyes to look at him, her gaze refocused on something hanging in front of her face. A golden necklace with a flawless ruby in the center. Her lips parted and then she took it from him, her brows drawing together. When she placed it around her neck she said, “You stole my necklace?”

            “I came looking for you and saw it lying there, I was expecting to talk to you so I wanted to save you the trouble of going to get it,” he frowned at her choice of words and she shook her head.

            “You came in here?”

            “Looking for you,” he rested a hand on her leg and she looked down at it. His hands were long and slender, his fingers thin and agile looking, not like Elder’s.

            “I favor Maxson, MacCready,” she breathed and he glared at her, his face twisting in anger and confusion. He straightened up from her side and stood in front of her.

            “You don’t even know him… Skaddi, he’s some asshole who thinks you’re a weapon!”

            She glared back at him. “And you care about me for me? Not the caps you earned while traveling with me while you _helped_ me get home by following behind me, right?” She stood up, looking over his face.

            “I had your back, I did what I could for you,” he growled and she shook her head.

            “Leave.”

            “What?”

            “Leave me,” she pointed at the door. “You’re my friend, my ally. I don’t see you as any more than that.”

            MacCready frowned at her, his sky eyes hard like hail shards now. “Fine,” he reached up and grabbed the amulet of Mara and yanked it off of his neck, breaking the tie and then tossed it to the bed, allowing the decorative beads to fall to the floor. “Have fun being another weapon in his arsenal. You think he’s just going to let you go home?” the mercenary shook his head and scoffed at her. “Bye, Skaddi.”

            The Dragonborn closed the door behind him and locked it, her pale eyes falling to the brown beads on the ground. The want to cry was overwhelming. She could still feel the faint burn of salt in her ducts and knew she hadn’t fully recovered from the fit she’s suffered before. Now she would have to cry without Maxson holding her, and that made the tears spill over her eyelids onto her cheeks, following the old scars she had.

            Skaddi pushed the amulet onto the ground and slid into the bed, kicking off her boots roughly and throwing her gloves over the side of the bed. Then she pulled the blanket up over her shoulders and bundled it up under her chin to keep it from shaking with the sobs that threatened to break through her lips.

 

 

            It was the middle of the afternoon when Skaddi fell asleep crying. She never ‘napped’. ‘Napping’ was for people who had time to do that. The Dragonborn didn’t have time to ‘nap’. The Dragonborn _shouldn’t_ have time to ‘nap’.

            But that’s just what she’d done. Napped.

            Right into the middle of the night.

            Skaddi rubbed her eyes and glanced at the clock on her desk. Maxson had taught her the basics of reading it since you couldn’t see the sun outside. It had a long stick on the three and a little stick on the eleven. So it was a quarter an hour passed eleven. Great.

            The Skaal woman stood up and adjusted her uniform, unzipping it so as to fix her smallclothes, then adjusted it back to how it was most comfortable –not fully closed with the throat unbuckled. She wanted her armor…

            Skaddi left her room, adjusting the necklace on her neck to rest more comfortably on her chest. She made her way down to the mess hall where all of the soldiers ate together. Well, the higher ranking ones usually ate in their offices or quarters, so she hardly saw the Proctors or Maxson here. She was pleased to see Danse at the counter picking some things from the bar and putting them on a plate.

            “Hail, Paladin.”

            He glanced up and offered her a nod. He looked troubled, though, and she narrowed her brows in concern. “Skaddi, how are you feeling?”

            “I could be better, how is Reagan?”

            “She’s…” he nodded, looking at the food. “She’s recovering.”

            “Are you still worried? About her turning into a ghoul?”

            His lips turned down more and he shook his head, “Not that. I’m confident she’ll have a full recovery. I just… think about what would have happened if we would have been a little slower? What if we wouldn’t have gotten her the help she needed in time and she… became one of those wretched…”

            His face twisted and his hands gripped the tray tighter turning his knuckles white. His black brows were heavy over his hard brown eyes that stared passed the food in front of him. He was lost in thought, anger distracting him. Skaddi placed her hand on his thick shoulder.

            “Danse,” she breathed and he blinked, breaking the trance and looking at her. “You have to tell her your feelings.”

            His lips parted and he stared at her. Then he shook his head and picked up the tray. “She’s my subordinate, that’s immensely inappropriate.”

            Skaddi sighed, wanting to slap him in the arm just like their Knight did when he said something she thought was ridiculous. Only, Skaddi didn’t want to laugh about it, she wanted to do it over and over until he confessed to that woman he had feelings for her, the same feelings she had.

            “I should get back to her, she needs to eat something solid,” he stepped away from the bar and headed down the hall to the medbay. Skaddi took a tray and picked some food off the counter, deciding on lighter things, and offered the mess officer a grin when she was finished. He nodded his head to her and then turned to speak with the soldier beside him.

            She took her tray back to her quarters and paused, noting Maxson’s door was cracked. It was almost closed, not open enough to see anything inside, just that it hadn’t latched. She strode over to it and paused before lightly tapping her fingers on it, softly enough not to wake him if he was sleeping, but loud enough he’d hear it if it was up.

            A moment later the door swung open to show a very tired looking Elder with hooded eyed and a thick, brown stick hanging off his lips. The end of the stick was burning, and as she took in the smell, she found it quite pleasant. His steel blue gaze softened on her and he pushed the door open more. “Skaddi,” he grunted around the thing in his mouth, “Come in.”

            She stepped around him and placed her tray down on his table, noting the brown box was open and with more of those sticks sitting inside. She had seen people smoking pipes, and small white sticks, but not these thick brown ones. They almost looked like leather. “What is that?” she whispered and tapped the box.

            Maxson closed the door and turned to her. “They’re cigars. Like cigarettes, but…” he cleared his throat and pulled it from his lips. “Different,” he decided and sat down in a chair, looking up at her. He placed the burning wrap back in his mouth and sucked in a breath through it and closed his eyes. Then he removed it, holding it between his fingers as he bowed over the table and ran his thick fingers through his hair, his smoking breath filtering out his nose just how she’d seen dragons do before breathing fire. “They help me relax.”

            “What’s wrong?” she stepped around the table to him, her food forgotten.

            “O’Conner lied right to my face. She was challenging me, and that’s not something I can tolerate, but–” he straightened up and then pulled another breath through the cigar, “I cannot simply believe you over her.”

            “There was another woman, but she would side with O’Conner over me, they both laughed at me.”

            His brows drew together, “Laughed at you?” His jaw tightened and he circled an arm around her hips, pulling her to him. She liked how strong he was, how it felt to have someone touch her in a way she knew they could hurt her, but were deciding not to. She rarely got to feel feminine while around others as she had such strength and power, but with the way the Arthur’s steel blue eyes rolled over her face and showed his feelings of possession, Skaddi didn’t think she would ever have a problem feeling like a normal woman in his grasp.

            “Aye, they both said things, I didn’t understand it,” she sighed and he blinked, dropping the cigar into a small, flat yellow bowl.

            “When did you get your necklace back? Where was it?” he glared at it sitting on her chest. He looked exhausted, and she wasn’t surprised he had nearly forgotten about her missing it since she was only without it for an hour or so.

            She swallowed and decided to tell him, “MacCready had picked it up when he went to speak with me. He thought he would see me in the halls but then he was…”

            Those blue eyes of his darkened, and his hand at the small of her back balled up. “He was in your quarters?”

            “When I returned from speaking with you he was there, waiting for me, he gave me the necklace back.”

            “Did he touch you?”

            Her heart skipped, staring down into his steely eyes. They were hard, angered under a glaring brow that scrunched the space between them and wrinkled his nose. The deep scar across his right cheek shifted as his jaw tightened under his beard, and the nord woman knew that he was willing to kill that mercenary given the proper reasoning.

            “He kissed me,” she confessed and he closed his eyes. She added quickly, “I pushed him away and told him I favored you, that he was a friend and an ally, nothing more.”

            “And how did he take that?” he stood up and released her, she took hold of his arm, trying to keep him from preparing to leave like she knew he was going to.

            “He said… that I don’t know you and you only see me as a weapon.”

            Maxson looked at her, eyes narrowed as he searched her face. “Do you believe that?”

            “I don’t want to,” she said honestly. His jaw shifted again and she reached up to touch his beard, running her fingers through the course hairs. “I know I’m a weapon, but I… don’t think you see me as only that. When you look at me you seem to relax, and… that tells me more than words could.”

            He lifted his hands to hold her hips and pull her toward him. “I don’t see a weapon when I look at you, I see a woman who wants to be normal, but is too extraordinary to be anything other than herself. I called you a weapon once, I won’t do that ever again.” Her thumb traced the deep scar creasing his cheek and her pale eyes looked down at his lips. “I am yours, Skaddi,” he breathed.

            Her heart nearly leapt from her chest. “And I, yours, Arthur.”

            “I will not tolerate him touching you so long as those words are true,” he growled, his hands on her pulling her to him so that their fronts pressed against each other. She nodded, her hands locked in the thick, dark brown hair of his beard, and resting on his massive chest.

            “He won’t again, Arthur,” she swore and he closed his eyes. A faint smile ghosted his lips.

            “I like when you say my name,” he tilted his face down toward her and she grinned up at him, knowing what that look meant. She pushed up onto her toes and slid her arms around his neck, pulling him toward her. They both closed their eyes and pressed their lips together. His rough beard tickled her nose and scratched at her cheeks.

            Maxson’s hands on her moved, one to the back of her head, slipping in under her hair to hold her neck while the other pressed against her back to keep her flush against him. This meant he was arching forward to even them out and she was curved back, forced to secure herself with her grip around his neck and rely on his hand at her spine to keep from falling.

            He tasted like that cigar, and she found she liked the smoky hint it gave his breath, it smelt like fire and had a thick, sweet edge rounding into something hard and masculine. Skaddi let a soft groan leave her lips when he moved his mouth to her cheek then down onto her neck, pushing her chin up with his nose to expose her throat to him.

            His teeth grazed her and she shuddered. It felt so good against her sensitive flesh, his hot breath washing over her, and his rough hand tangling in her hair. She whispered his name in pleasure as he gently bit her neck, working down to her shoulder. She praised him by dragging her nails over his back and running her fingers through his hair.

            When his lips came to hers again he lifted her onto the table and stepped between her legs. Her breathing picked up and her heart hammered. She knew where this was going to go if she didn’t put a stop to it. She didn’t want to stop it, but she wasn’t ready for more yet.

            His hands slid up her thighs and gently tugged on her hair. He was doing everything right, and it felt so perfect. His mouth coaxing hers open so he could taste her. His hips grinding into her, rubbing against her with his stiff excitement.

            That was when she started to flush, burning brightly under his touch when his knuckles brushed against her cheek to move her hair away from her face. His hand on her hip gripped her tight, holding her to him. Her hands slid down to cup his face, her fingers running through his beard.

            Then she tilted her head away, breaking the kiss and tried to catch her breath. “Arthur…” she whispered and he sighed, pressing his forehead to hers.

            “Yes?” his voice was ragged, matching hers. It warmed her heart knowing she had the same affect on him as he did her.

            “I… where I come from a couple normally waits to lie together until marriage,” she flushed, remembering what Reagan said about it being nearly regular for people to sleep with each other and that she even participated in it. But the Knight wanted more than that, the same thing that Skaddi sought out. She hoped that Maxson would be willing to wait for her…

            “That’s fine, Skaddi, I would never make you do something you weren’t comfortable with,” he promised and kissed her cheek. She nodded and looked at his chest.

            “I do want to though,” she smiled and squeezed her knees against his hips.

            He groaned quietly and pressed his face into her neck. “Knowing that just makes it harder….” She smiled and ran her fingers through his hair and then he straightened up. “You came to eat, you should eat,” he stepped back and let her slide off the table. She nodded and picked at the food. “You said there was another woman in the shower?”

            “Aye, tall, skinny,” the Skaal shrugged. “I’ve never seen her before. She was very plain looking, I don’t really remember her face….”

            Maxson sighed and leaned against the table, brows furrowed. “Even if we did find out who it was, she would probably stick with whatever O’Conner said. And now they’ve had time to talk, so we can’t trust that questioning them alone would prove helpful.”

            Skaddi pursed her lips and lifted a stick with meat on it. “I suppose there’s nothing that can be done then. Her word against mine, and I am the outsider.”

            Maxson turned toward her, “She’s been given extra duty. Kells agreed that you would not make accusations toward someone you’ve never met, so even if she was not responsible for all charges, she has been punished. If I get enough evidence to prove she did _anything_ she denied, her penalty will be far worse now that she’s lied.”

            Skaddi smirked and bit some of the meat off. “I’m happy I didn’t hit her.”

            “I am, too, so far you have done nothing wrong,” he brushed her hair from her face and then leaned in and kissed her cheek. “Keep doing what you’re doing, and let me worry about my men.”

            “You should lie down, you look exhausted, Arthur.”

            He let out a long breath and grabbed a bottle off his table, pressing it to his lips and tipping it back before putting a lid on it and setting it down. “I don’t normally sleep until one or three in the morning.”

            “When do you wake up?” her brows lifted.

            “Five, I have to get my exercises in before I go down to the Command Deck.”

            “You only get…” she shook her head. “Go to bed,” she pointed at the mattress on the other side of the room, pushed up against the wall.

            “I’m not tired,” he lied, looking right at her.

            She grabbed his wrist and pulled him over. Then she pushed him down and he sat, staring up at her, his steel blue eyes curious. “I’ll help you,” she smirked and knelt in front of him, unlacing his boots and freeing the buckles.

            “I don’t want you to do anything you’re not comfortable with,” he said softly and she smiled, shaking her head.

            “It’s not like that, Arthur, just relax.”

            “Very well,” he sighed and she pulled his boots off. Then she stood and motioned for him to lie down on his stomach. He did and she kicked her boots off, having barely laced them before going to the mess hall. Then she climbed onto the bed, straddling him so she sat on his ass. He offered up a laugh as she started to run her hands over his back, working the stiff muscle.

            “It would feel better if you removed your uniform, at least in part,” she informed him, leaning forward to whisper in his ear.

            “As you wish,” he pushed against the mattress and tipped her back so that he could access the front of his flight suit. She helped him peel it down to his waist, and she readjusted so she sat on it.

            When Skaddi pressed her fingers into the muscle and worked out the knots that formed, the Elder groaned and sighed, whispering quiet swears. The Dragonborn grinned and allowed her eyes to run over all of the scars that crossed his pale, muscled back. She used her fingertips, palms, knuckles, elbows, and forearms until the man below her was limp and his breathing had faded into a slow, muted snore.

            She grinned and leaned forward, pressing a few kisses into the rippled muscles of his shoulder blades. Then she climbed off and went to the table to collect her tray and turned his light out as she left.


	14. Topsy Turvy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skaddi gets her forge, but MacCready reveals something about himself that only adds to her confused feelings.  
> Oh, and she finds out what exactly put her in the Commonwealth.  
> It's a hell of a chapter with a very accurate title –though I hope /all/ the titles have been accurate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tospy Turvy ~Hunchback of Notre Dame

            “This is perfect, Quinlan,” Skaddi smiled brightly and stepped up to the forge. It was different, made from substituted materials and very much fit into the Commonwealth’s wasteland, but it had all the right parts.

            “I am happy you approve,” the Proctor smiled at her and stood some few feet away to allow her to start her work.

            “I cannot thank you enough. It may take me some time to get used to this forge, but I will have a dagger for you in a few days.”

            “Take your time, as long as my scribes can watch you, I am happy,” the man reassured her and she nodded.

            “They may watch all they like. I would be willing to train a few in simple techniques if they wished as well.”

            The lanky man chuckled, “One thing at a time, I don’t need them fighting each other for time with you.”

            “Aye,” she turned back to the forge and leaned over the fire, breathing in the heat and smell of burning wood and coal.

            On the other side of the platform she was working on were several scribes with Proctor Ingram working on several devices with Nate close by. Her pale eyes flicked to see MacCready reclined on his back looking bored in an old red and white couch. She tried not to stare at him and turned her back to him.

            The sun was directly over her, and she couldn’t work in the flight suit comfortably. She asked for one of the scribes watching to get her something loose and breathable. While she waited she stripped off the gloves of her uniform and tossed them onto a table holding some tools she’d asked for.

            A scribe stepped up to her then and asked several questions. She did her best to answer them, allowing her eyes to flit over and see the others writing what she said down on parchments held on thin slabs of wood. Then the scribe she’d sent off came back and offered her up a shirt and pants she’d seen some settlers wear. It wasn’t exactly what she had in mind, but it would do.

            The Dragonborn changed into them behind a wall where no one could see her and came back out, buttoning up the shirt which strained against her. It was too small, and the pants were very tight. “Might require something bigger,” she frowned and met the staring eyes of all the scribes.

            A deep throat cleared and the men in front of her snapped to attention. Skaddi glanced sideways at Maxson who was offering a gentle, disapproving glare at his men. They departed, splitting up to find something to do.

            She smiled at him as he stepped up and looked her over. “That’s ill fitting,” he commented and she nodded.

            “I’m larger than most women here…”

            “Not a bad thing,” he grinned and folded the collar of her shirt over. “I’ll have someone bring some of my personal civilian clothes, they should fit you.”

            “First a uniform of yours and now your personal clothes?” she smirked at him. “Are you marking me, Arthur?”

            “Perhaps,” he grinned and turned his steel gaze over to the forge. “How does it compare to those found in Skyrim?”

            “It is different, but it is better than I could have done alone here.” She grinned wider and looked up at him. “It means so much to me to have access to it, Arthur.”

            She used his name because no one could hear them, and she liked to see his face soften when hearing it. He looked far more relaxed now, like he had slept well. “I want you to be comfortable here.”

            She nodded and walked him over to the forge. “Have you ever been interested in learning?”

            “Of course,” he smiled. “I read books about knights, blacksmiths…. Being able to craft your own weapons and armor from scratch is impressive, more so than taking what someone else has made an modifying it, at least in my opinion,” he added and watched as she bent awkwardly in the tight shirt to pick up her hammer and a slab of steel.

            “It’s different working with materials that have already been used. I can make it work though.”

            The Elder waved a scribe over and had them get a change of clothes from his quarters so that they would be the correct size for her. The scribe nodded, leaving them with the lingering gazes of the others.

            She shifted her hammer around and tested its weight. It was different than the one she would normally use, but it would work. The silence between them wasn’t awkward, he simply stepped around, looking at the details of the forge, before coming back to her side. His hand pressed to the small of her back. “I will return, I have some matters to attend to.”

            “Aye,” she smiled at him and he nodded once. Then she leaned in and kissed his cheek like he had her several times. That quirked his lip and she looked at the pout pair, wishing to kiss them as well, but now was not the time, nor place.

            She watched him walk over to the other side of the area and speak with Ingram and Nate. MacCready got up from where he was lying and came over to her forge, his sky eyes on the Elder who paid him several glances in return.

            “Hey, Skaddi,” he greeted and she lifted a brow at him, surprised.

            “Hello,” she leaned against a wall, waiting for that scribe to return. “How are you feeling?”

            “I wanted to apologize for… my behavior,” he frowned and she looked over his face, testing if he was being genuine.

            “I don’t want to lose you as a friend, MacCready. You were the first person I met here, the first person to help me…”

            “Yeah,” he sighed. “Look, I like you, Skaddi. I just… I want to help you, it stopped being about the caps when I realized just how…” he waved at her. “You’re an amazing woman. I get I’m not your type.” MacCready’s eyes flicked back to Maxson and he glared. “I’m not some big, strong, bearded man with this overwhelming sense of duty and an army at my back… but,” he stepped a little closer to her, “I know I can make you happy.”

            She frowned at him her jaw clamping tight. “How do you know that?”

            “Because only one thing would keep me from following you home, and that little thing would be more than happy to come with,” he spoke softly, his eyes flickering to the scribes who were scribbling notes about her forge.

            “What is it?” her brows drew together and he looked back at her, his face twisting into a spell of sadness.

            “My son.”

            “You have a son?” her lips parted and he nodded, frowning down at the ground between them.

            “I lost my wife a few years ago, and shortly after he got sick. These… blue boils started popping up all over him.” His face twisted into a glare. “I came to the Commonwealth looking for a cure, and I took some time to run with the gunners, see if I could get any leads… worst mistake I ever made. They were animals. Killed anything that got in their way. That’s why I needed the caps, I wanted to try to pay them off…. Nate helped me take them out,” he looked sideways at the sheepish man who was trying to explain something to Maxson and Ingram. “Him, Codsworth, and Dogmeat that is. Nate’s fine and all, but he’s not built for this wasteland.”

            “He’s from a different time, it’s another world. Just like Skyrim,” she met MacCready’s sky eyes. He nodded. “What of your son, then?”

            “He’s in the Capital Wasteland, I couldn’t ask him to come with me, but I have a lead on where to–”

            “Mac!”

            They both looked up to see Nate jog forward, his black hair bouncing as he bobbed. “What is it?”

            “We have to go get a few things to build the relay, Ingram has scribes getting the rest. We should have it all finished by tomorrow night if the scribes can keep everything going during the night,” he smiled and then looked over at Skaddi, his lips faltering slightly. She knew he didn’t care for her, she could only imagine how it made him feel to have competition for resources. And it seemed that in most fields they preferred her needs to his….

            “All right,” the mercenary frowned and looked back at Skaddi. “I’ll see you around then.”

            “What about your–?”

            “We’ll talk later,” he promised and touched her shoulder before turning to follow Nate out of the build space.

            Her pale eyes flicked to Maxson who was glaring after the skinny man, but he returned his attention to Ingram when he was out of sight. She needed to get her feelings in order. The last thing she needed was the two of them fighting, or turning them both against her.

 

 

            Skaddi drew her arm across her forehead and straightened up to look down at the work she’d made so far. Scribes had put up lights around to keep the space bright, and it allowed her to continue to work into the night, even as only two were able to stay up and continue to take notes on her.

            She was exhausted and ready to settle down for the night, now that she was at a good stopping point on the blade. It was still a few days from being completed, but she didn’t mind, it took time to make good weapons, and she didn’t want to give the Proctor anything less than her best. It was nothing compared to what she could make in Skyrim, but that was more so the fault of the materials.

            The Skaal woman took her leave of the scribes and returned to her quarters. She wanted to take a shower, but the memory of what had happened with O’Conner was still staining her brain. She left her door open as she rifled through her things to see if she had something comfortable to sleep in that smelled halfway decent. A soft knock on the door made her turn and grin.

            “You look nice in my clothes,” Maxson leaned against her doorframe and she flushed.

            “I would love to try on your coat,” she breathed, pale gaze watching how it fell around him. He lifted a brow at her and she straightened up to give up her search.

            “What were you looking for?”

            “Something clean to wear. Since you allow me so many showers I’ve taken to enjoying the feeling,” she sighed.

            “Why not take a shower then? You look tired, it’ll help you relax.”

            She glanced up at him when he stepped closer, adjusting the sweaty collar on her neck and then following it to the top button over her breasts. “I admit to being paranoid now.”

            “I understand,” he tilted his head and then smiled some. “You can use my private restroom. It has all you need; shower, sink, and toilet.”

            Her brows lifted, “Really? Would that be… inappropriate?”

            “You don’t feel safe or comfortable in the shared showers. And it’s mine to do with as I please and allow who I please to use.” She nodded her understanding. It was also a lot closer, so less walking around in a towel with dripping hair…

            “May I use it now?”

            “Of course,” he stepped back from her and went to his quarters, allowing her to follow when she had her supplies. The soaps she had left behind had been returned to her quarters while she was down at the forge. Skaddi gathered her things and headed over to the Elder’s room, shooting glances down the hall to see if anyone saw. Then she stepped inside and closed the door. Maxson was typing on his terminal, bent over it with his back to her. She stood there for a moment, awkwardly waiting. He glanced up and straightened, opened a door to his side and said, “Go on, there are fresh towels in the cabinet. Let me know if you need anything.”

            She nodded and crossed the space. He returned to the terminal and sat down, giving a frustrated grunt. His mood had shifted awfully quickly. She paused in the door and looked down at him. “Are you all right, Arthur?”

            His steel blue gaze lifted and he sighed, “Yes, Skaddi. I only just received word we lost two vertibirds in Quincy. The gunners there are…” his jaw tightened and he took a deep breath. “It’s nothing you need to worry yourself with, enjoy your shower, I’ll have a fresh uniform ready for you when you’re done.”

            “You’re leaving?”

            “I have to go to the Command Deck, I imagine I won’t be back until late tonight as I have a meeting after.”

            “Oh, all right,” she nodded and he stood up, kissed her cheek, and went to his closet. She stepped into the washroom and closed the door as he put a clean flight suit down on the desk beside his terminal, just outside the door. As she turned the water on she heard him close and lock his door.

            While she waited for the water to warm her mind drifted off to Skyrim. The Elder had a tub, so she opted to have a bath instead of shower, hoping he wouldn’t mind. She sat naked on the side of it and watched the scalding water fill the steel bowl. Her fingers dipped in and circled around.

            She wondered if time was moving the same in Tamriel. Was she missing? Who noticed her disappearance if she was? Argis definitely would, he had been on the ship with her to Solstheim, she had just settled down to go to sleep when she… fell out of Skyrim.

            What would he do? Assume someone killed her? That she fell over board? He was her housecarl, sworn to carry her burdens and protect her and hers. He had always done so faithfully and readily. She… loved that nord.

            Skaddi settled into the bath and used her foot on the handle to stop the water. When she was comfortable, she closed her eyes. Argis had been with her for most of her time in Skyrim. Early on she had visited Markarth on accident –she had meant to take the carriage to Morthal and because she was not familiar with the land had gone _far_ passed it, and ended up in the City of Stone. Once there she had to do some work enough to get gold to _leave_ and ended up gaining the favor of the jarl enough he honored her with the standing of Thane –the second time she’d been given that honor in the land.

            Argis was appointed to be her housecarl, and instead of having him stay and guard her home on the cliff face in the city, she took him with, wanting the company as Lydia more than once annoyed her with comments that were on the break of complaining. She liked the nord, but not enough to keep her around. Had she had her Whiterun housecarl with her she may not have gone to Markarth when she did, and may not have gotten Argis the Bulwark, so she liked to think of it as a happy turn out.

            With a sigh Skaddi opened her eyes and yelped, scrambling to cover herself as she gaped at the dark figure standing, looking in the mirror.

            “Well, if it isn’t the _mighty Dragonborn_!” the familiar voice of Sanguine sounded.

            “What–what’re you doing here?” she covered her breasts and crossed her legs, trying to hide herself from view as he turned around. The Daedric Prince of Debauchery’s void like eyes fell on her, tracing her body, a smile smirked his lips.

            “Oh, young _Dovahkiin_ ,” he knelt beside her, his heavy daedric armor landing loudly on the steel floor, “We had a deal when I gave you that staff. You were supposed to _use_ it to spread merriment. Not hang it on a wall to collect dust,” his black lips drew back over unholy white teeth. The sneer sent a shudder down her spine.

            “I didn’t think it right to favor one of the artifacts over the others–” she started to defend herself.

            Sanguine stood, shaking his head, “Nope, no, no. You see, Nocturnal might be fine with you letting her gift sit and _rot_ ,” the word echoed with his harsh, daedric voice. “But Sheogorath and I find it quite displeasing.”

            “Oh, gods, you two sent me here?” her heart plummeted to the ground, right through the Prydwen’s steel hull to the surface so far below her.

            Sanguine laughed and shrugged. “It was actually Boethiah that suggested it,” he tilted his head down at her so that he could better see her in the murky water. “She doesn’t like her champion being so… kind. Seems you’re enjoying the torment though…”

            Skaddi’s jaw clenched. “I… how do I get home?”

            “Nope,” the daedra shook his head. “I’m not the one with the plan. That’s ol’ Boethiah, girly. Sheogorath and I just gave her the help she needed.”

            Her jaw clenched, “I regretted becoming her _champion_ the moment I looked into Faendal’s eyes and murdered him.”

            “See, all you had to do was stay on _my_ good side, Dragonborn, and I would have protected you,” he reached out, running his cold, daedric armored fingers over her forehead to brush away the hair that fell into her face. “I take care of my champions. But you just had to put my rose on that wall next to–” he choked and shook his head, disgusted, “That damned Wabbajack.”

            “Can you send me home?” she tilted her face up to the Prince and he smirked at her.

            “A price you are not willing to pay would _always_ get me to listen to requests.” Her jaw clenched and he nodded. “I knew your honor would keep hold.” With a grunt he straightened and looked around the washroom. “I am getting quite the enjoyment out of watching this little… triangle with you and those men.”

            “You’ve been watching?”

            “Come now, _Dovahkiin_ , do you really think I would just send you off and forget about you?” he shook his head and ran his gloved hand over the horns curling out of his skull. “Sheogorath has grown bored and moved on, and Boethiah keeps her plots to herself, so I cannot say what she intends, but I, Dragonborn, will be keeping my eyes on you.” He walked around the tub to get a new angle on her and she shifted to keep herself covered. “Make it something I’d like to watch, aye? Maybe some fooling around with that nord you so desire.”

            “I…” she flushed and he laughed, the sound echoing in his throat as much as in the steel room.

            “The mighty Dragonborn, so shy when she is not dressed in her armor. You were so much more fun when you drank my special brew,” he dipped a hand down into the water and splashed it at her. “There are few things I love to see on women, Dragonborn.” This time he knelt down at her side and leaned in close to her face. She tilted hers away, avoiding his void gaze. “Greed does not befit you… nor sloth…” he grabbed her jaw and she grunted at the feeling of the armor’s bite. “Definitely not gluttony. What sin does that leave? My favorite on any woman,” he chuckled and stood up.

            Skaddi bit her lip and watched him return to stand in front of the mirror, he had probably never seen such a clear picture, this world was just as new to him as it was to her. The mirrors in Skyrim were not as fine was the ones here. He seemed distracted for a moment before turning back to her and lifted a red tattooed brow.

            “Leaves you with lust. I do so enjoy seeing mortals indulge in those wonderful activities. Those here are almost… more entertaining than back in Tamriel.” Sanguine stood over her and gave her a grin, baring his white teeth. “Give me a little show, and I’ll talk Boethiah into getting you the means to return home. Sound fair?”

            She swallowed roughly and said, “What… kind of show?”

            “Something _I_ would enjoy, _Dovahkiin_. You know me, remember the night we spent together?” he wiggled a brow at her. No, she didn’t remember, and even after the fact she was lost as to what that had _actually_ happened in full. All she knew was she went from one end of Skyrim to the other with Sam Guevenne who ended up being the Daedric Prince in front of her.

            “You want me to… have sex with Arthur…”

            The daedra laughed. “Oh, young Dragonborn, I want you to do a lot of things…. I could _make_ you do a lot of things,” he smiled at her. “But it’s so much more fun when you commit the act on your own.”

            She shook her head and squeezed herself tighter. “I don’t want to do that.”

            “Then don’t. But you’re my champion, and I need a champion who worships me,” he tapped her forehead with his pointed glove and she winced. “Worship me, one way or another, or I cannot offer you any help.”

            “I would call on divines for aid before you.”

            “And where has that gotten you so far?” he asked. “Take your time, it means little to me. Your life is blink to me, young _Dovahkiin_. But I will be watching, and when the chance comes, if you have given me the worship I desire, then… I will help you.”

            She opened her mouth to reply, to say something smart, or to deny him the kind of worship he craved, but a black and purple void appeared and took him with the distortion of sound that shook her ear drums.

            Skaddi looked around the washroom and settled back down in the water that now felt cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Sanguine, he's my favorite Daedric Prince... just hate that voice of his, I always imagined him using the same one as the dremora when he's not in human form....


	15. Why Should I Worry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skaddi tells Maxson about her visitor, needless to say, he's not happy.  
> Nate's true feelings about Skaddi are voiced...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why Should I Worry ~Oliver and Company

            Skaddi sat at Maxson’s table, toying with one of his cigars while she thought. Her hair was brushed out of her face with a comb she’d picked up off the counter beside his sink, but it still dripped down her back, leaving a long wet spot that clung to her. Normally she would turn her head upside down and shake the water out, fluff it and make it air dry, but she was thinking about Sanguine.

            How his void eyes looked at her.

            How he’d touched her.

            A shudder rolled down her spine and she squeezed the cigar. He wanted her to worship him: the Daedric Prince of Debauchery. He wanted her to do something foul, something sinful, even if it wasn’t horrendous. It was nothing compared to what Boethiah would ask of her…

            Boethiah would probably demand Arthur’s heart –or head.

            All Sanguine asked was for her to… worship him. He loved tricks and pranks, sinful acts of greed, gluttony, and lust. He wanted her to act on her desires for the young Elder.

            She had to admit she did suffer from it, but she was able to keep it in check. Now he was simply telling her to as she’s wanted. Then he would help her go home.

            “For the sake of the divines, Talos save me,” she breathed and dropped the cigar, putting her face in her hands. “Mara guide me…”

            She ran her fingers through her hair and started when the door opened a little too roughly. Skaddi looked over at Maxson who was furrowing his brow and slammed his door. Then he looked up and saw her, briefly lifting his hand as he too was startled, though his reaction was reserved and he recovered quickly.

            “Skaddi, I thought you would have left by now,” he squinted at the clock on the other side of the room. She had no idea what time it was, she’d been distracted with her thoughts of home and Sanguine’s words.

            “I am troubled,” she breathed and picked up the cigar she’d been handling and put it back in the box.

            “You and me both.”

            “What’s wrong?” He removed his coat and hung it on the rack. Then he came to the table and poured himself a drink.

            “In addition to the ‘birds we lost I’ve been informed that synths abducted three field scribes after killing their knight escort on a research patrol.” He threw back his drink and winced, then proceeded to pour another. “Nate Briars is proving to be very _difficult_ to work with. He lies to us any chance he gets. The Railroad is also proving to be quite a thorn in my side. They have ambushed several patrols, and when I sent men to the location you found they’d cleared out.”

            She watched him take in a long, deep breath and then toss back his drink, squeezing his eyes shut and baring his teeth at the burn. “I should have killed them all while I was there.”

            He shook his head, “They’re like roaches. There will always be more.”

            Skaddi stood and circled the table to go to him, immediately allowing her hands to find his back and start to work the tight muscle. He shuddered and glanced at her over his shoulder.

            “You don’t have to do this. I lived twenty years without coming back to my room for a massage, I’m sure I can go the rest of my life without one.”

            “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should,” she commented and found a sweet spot that worked a groan out of him.

            “What was it that troubles you?” he asked after a few moments of silence save his quiet sounds of pleasure.

            “I know now how I got here, to the Commonwealth,” she stated and the Elder turned around, blinking out of his trance.

            “How?” was all he could manage, as he looked her over as if something about her appearance would give it away.

            “There are beings called daedra in my world. They have many powers, and generally take pleasure in meddling with the lives of mortals. I am the champion of four of them, but they are…” she frowned and shook her head. “I have lost the favor of three of them, because I do not live my life according to how they wish. Boethiah sent me here with the help of Sanguine and Sheogorath.” The look on his face showed her he barely understood what she was saying. “Sanguine came to me while I was in the bath,” she said and his brows drew together. “He explained it to me. He was the first I gained favor with, but like the others, I hung his gift on my wall like a trophy rather than used it, per our arrangement. I thought he would simply forget about me…”

            “He came here?”

            “He appeared, using the same magic I assume brought me here. He departed the same way.”

            “Did he tell you how to return home?”

            She bit her lip and looked down at his chest. “Aye.”

            “And…?”

            Her jaw clenched and she freed her lip. She wondered what he would saw, what he would do…. “He wants me to worship him.”

            “How do you do that?”

            “He’s the Daedric Prince of Debauchery. There are several ways, none of which I am… comfortable with,” she confessed and watched his face contort. “He said he would be watching, and to give him a show. If I worshiped him, then he would find a way to help me get home.” She stopped talking and allowed him to take that in, chewing away a few layers of flesh on the inside of her lips and cheeks.

            Finally he nodded and said, “There has to be another way.”

            Skaddi looked down at his chest and shrugged. “Maybe. But I’ve angered three Daedric Princes, and they don’t take kindly to being upset.”

            Maxson lifted a hand and tilted her chin up. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

            She nodded and he released her, suddenly looking very tired.

            “Today is not my day,” he grunted and stepped around her. “I’m going to bathe, make yourself at home, or you may return to your quarters.”

            The Dragonborn nodded and watched him close the door to the washroom. When she was alone she picked up the cigar she had been playing with and stuck it in her mouth, lightly chewing on it as she settled back down into a chair and listened to him run himself a bath.

            _“Give me a little show, and I’ll talk Boethiah into getting you the means to return home. Sound fair?”_

Fair? She had to trade her honor and purity for the pleasure of a daedra to earn her way back home….

            The nord woman stood up and left the Elder’s quarters with the cigar between her lips. She needed some air.

 

 

            Reagan frowned at Skaddi with pursed lips and narrowed black eyes. “All right, I’ll bite, Maxson’s dick is your way home?”

            “Knight.”

            “What? That’s what she’s saying isn’t it?” Reagan shifted in the bed to look at the Paladin who was glaring between them.

            The Skaal sighed and rubbed her forehead. “When you put it so crudely…”

            “I mean, there are far worse things to do to get where you’re going,” the Knight smiled and Danse cleared his throat, standing.

            “Control yourself,” he sent a hard stare down at his soldier, then looked up to Skaddi. “Is there another way?”

            “I don’t know, honestly what Sanguine asks is tame. I fear what Boethiah would request I do to regain her favor…”

            “Such as?”

            “I became her champion by betraying the trust of one of my friends, binding him to a pillar, and then slaying him in cold blood.”

            Reagan lifted a hand, “See? Far worse things than sleeping with Maxson.”

            “Knight, I will not warn you again,” Danse snapped at her. He looked exhausted and was highly irritable. Skaddi lifted her hand and cast a healing spell holding it near the Paladin’s head. He turned to her, but his gaze softened and he relaxed some.

            “That was quite the headache, Paladin.”

            “Thank you, Skaddi,” he sighed and sat back down then.

            Reagan frowned, eyes locked on the man at her side. “Hey, can you send some of that my way? I’m tired of being confined to this bed and Cade won’t give me the all-clear until I don’t have this splitting headache anymore,” she tapped her temple and the Skaal stepped forward, applying her hand to the woman’s head. “Ah, thanks…”

            “Get well, Reagan,” the Dragonborn whispered and looked at Danse who was watching the Knight. “I’ll return in a little while to check on you.”

            When she stepped out of the medbay she smacked right into Nate and quickly grabbed him by the arms to steady him. He was quite light on his feet for how awkward he was, she hadn’t heard him coming up the metal hallway. He blinked at her, his dark brown eyes stunned before fully realizing who she was and frowned, taking a step back.

            “Skaddi.”

            She narrowed her eyes and brows at him. “Why do you look at me so? Like I am an enemy to you?”

            The sheepish man looked away and cleared his throat. “It’s… I don’t know, I just… you annoy me, all right?”

            Shock froze the Dragonborn and she stared at him. “Why?”

            “Because…” he waved at her helplessly. “You’re… someone special, you mean something, and I’m just… some guy whose son was stolen. There, I’m mad at you because I’m not special like you.”

            Skaddi opened her mouth to reply, to offer comforting words, but she didn’t know what to say. He was… normal, out of his time, but normal with normal problems. She wasn’t.

            He nodded and grimaced. “See? You can’t even come up with a lie to make me feel better about myself because you’re so… _special_. Well, those of us who aren’t special have to work harder to get help.”

            “I’ve had to work to get where I am now,” her brows narrowed at him. She might have had an easier time in part than him, but he did not know her, nor was he able to chide her for getting the help he thought he deserved.

            “Yeah, sure,” he waved a hand at her and started to walk away.

            “So that’s it, then? You’re just going to get in your last words and walk away?” Skaddi stepped toward him and then a hand took her shoulder. She looked up to see Paladin Danse frowning at her.

            “Don’t,” he breathed and she looked back at Nate who climbed down the ladder to the Command Deck. Her jaw clenched and she took a deep breath.

 

 

            Skaddi spent the whole day at the forge, only eating when the observing scribes offered her some of their snacks. She wore Maxson’s clothes because they were comfortable and she enjoyed the lingering smell of him on them.

            Nate was on the other side of the platform with MacCready close by. Whenever the mercenary would try to step away, his employer would call him back, demanding a tool or a second pair of eyes. Skaddi and MacCready both knew it was just to keep them apart.

            It annoyed the Skaal more than she thought it would. She wanted to keep her distance from the sell-sword, but she also wanted to finish their conversation about his son. He was a several years older than her –two years older than Maxson who had two years on Skaddi– it didn’t surprise her that he’d been married with a child now that she thought about it. In this Wasteland it seemed some things were similar to Skyrim. Marrying young being a popular option as several soldiers and settlers she’d met also claimed to be married.

            She wondered if MacCready had meant what he said, about him going with her to Skyrim…. Could she mother a child that was no her own? Many women did it, why couldn’t she?

            Skaddi blinked and frowned down at the dagger she was fashioning. It was turning out better than she’d hoped. She would finish it tomorrow, adding the Brotherhood of Steel insignia into the blade for the Proctor.

            Would Maxson marry her? He needed heirs and that was best done with a wife rather than a mistress. He didn’t seem the kind of man to take a mistress anyway….

            “Skaddi?”

            She jumped and turned, MacCready stood there, lifting his hands to show he didn’t mean to startle her. Then she realized she was holding the dagger and hammer in a way that would allow her to strike him.

            “Oh, I’m sorry,” she breathed and cleared her throat. “What is it?”

            “I wanted to talk to you, you seem…” his face twisted as he looked her over. “Distracted.”

            “I am very distracted,” she said honestly and turned her hammer in her hand.

            “Did you want to talk about it?”

            “MacCready–” she started.

            “Robert, my name’s Robert, Skaddi.”

            She stopped and blinked, looking him over. She had met many people with only one name, or even just titles. It never occurred to her that MacCready had had a first name –or any other name than just _MacCready_.

            “Oh, um,” she shook her head to start over, but she didn’t want to use his other name, it didn’t sound right. “I found out what brought me here, and how to get home, but I don’t think I’m willing to do it.”

            “What? Why?” he stepped closer and she put her tools down, glancing at the scribes who were watching, but trying to act like they weren’t.

            “Because it would… make me uncomfortable,” she stated and his brows drew together under his hat, puckering the space between them and creasing the top of the bridge of his nose. He had a long, straight nose that had a tall bridge, different in that it was still thin and from the front it looked almost delicate, while from the side it gave his profile an almost foxlike point with his tight lips and narrowed chin. He was the opposite of Maxson in almost every way.

            “What do you have to do?”

            She cleared her throat and then shot a look at the scribes, making them scramble over each other to give them some space. When she was happy with their distance she put her tools down and took her gloves off, tossing them onto a nearby table. She folded her arms under her breasts and met his sky-like eyes. “I must worship the Daedric Prince of Debauchery. If I do this then he will speak with the Daedric Prince of Plots and convince her to allow me to go home.”

            “Debauchery… well, that sounds… fun,” he smirked and then lifted a brow. “Something your honor wouldn’t let you to, though, right?”

            “Aye.”

            He nodded and continued to grin. Her jaw set. Why was he smiling? Did he find this humorous?

            “Is something funny?”

            “Only a little,” he breathed and tilted his head at her. “So I imagine there are a lot of ways you could worship this guy–”

            “Sanguine wants me to act on my lust,” she said, cutting him off and causing his smirk to fall away. His sky eyes looked her over and he nodded, frowning.

            “With that ass–” he cut himself off and started over. “With that jerk, right? The big guy in the fancy coat…”

            “You know his name.”

            “Yeah, doesn’t mean I want to say it,” he grumbled and crossed his arms. “Well, that sounds easy enough for you, huh? Just go sleep with him and you get to go home, what’re you waiting for?”

            Skaddi’s jaw tightened. “I do not just _sleep_ with any man I meet. Even ones with whom I enjoy the presence of. You for instance, we have known each other since I came here yet you have not seen me passed my armor.”

            “Has Maxson?” he lifted a brow. Her mind jumped to when she couldn’t fit in her flight suit and he’d been there. He would have seen her whole front as she could not get the shoulders on correctly nor zip up the uniform. Her hesitation was the only answer he needed. “Seen more than me, then, hasn’t he?”

            “It was an accident,” she started and he laughed right at her.

            “Really? He just accidently saw you without your clothes on? _You,_ Skaddi. You could have said some words or cast a spell and he wouldn’t have done or saw anything you didn’t want him to,” he shook his head at her. “I don’t understand. What about him are you so drawn to? Is it because he reminds you of the men back where you come from? That’s the only thing I can think of.”

            “Aye, he is a nord in my eyes. Something I do not see outside of the Brotherhood,” she started and he nodded.

            “Yeah, so you’re going to just blindly follow them because they remind you of home? Do you even understand what they do? They only care about their tech and humans. If you aren’t pure human you can rot in the Glowing Sea for all they care.”

            Skaddi’s jaw tightened and she shook her head at him. “I do not have to explain myself to you, MacCready.”

            “No, you don’t I guess,” he sighed and then balled his hands into fists. “Why does it seem like we only fight now? Before… before we came here we never fought, we were so… good together,” he stepped closer and took her hands. She looked down at the contact as he pulled her arms out from their fold. “We are a great team, come on, let’s go hunt something: be like we were.”

            Her cheeks flushed and she looked up at his face. He was pleading with her, and she didn’t know if she had the heart to say no. She didn’t want to upset Maxson, but she didn’t want to lose MacCready as a friend. He was right, since they came here all they’d done was fight and disagree, and she hated it. Maybe some time just the two of them, how they had been before, was what they needed to figure everything out.

            “All right, MacCready,” she nodded.

            “Great,” he smiled widely, and she glanced down at his lips, showing his broken teeth. “Great,” he repeated and squeezed her arms. “Tomorrow Nate’s going to the Institute if that relay thing works, so it’s the perfect time.”

            Tomorrow they’d go hunting…. She nodded and gave him a reserved smile. “I’ll meet you here after Nate leaves, then?”

            “Yeah,” he leaned forward, then stopped himself and nodded once before letting her go. “Tomorrow.”


	16. Can You Feel the Love Tonight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Smut. It's all smut passed the first 600 words. Longest smut sequence I think I've written thus far in any of my fics. I felt like the entire chapter should be dedicated to Maxson deflowering Skaddi, so here it is, I spent all my time since the last posting combing over this, so hopefully there are as few mistakes as possible. I've also included below the songs that I had playing the entire time I worked on this to keep me in the mood! Don't judge me please! But it's also got some fluff and some dialogue at the end, so... just mostly smut... but you've been waiting so long for it, here it is!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can You Feel the Love Tonight ~The Lion King
> 
> Here are the songs I listened to while writing it –in no particular order, they're on shuffle in my YouTube Playlist–, they range from cute (in my opinion) to WHOA THAT'S DIRTY (in my opinion), so there's your warning. I listen for the rhythm –helps me write :P
> 
> In My Mind ~Maty Noyes  
> Temperature ~Saun Paul  
> For Your Entertainment ~Adam Lambert  
> Bruises and Bite Marks ~Good with Grenades  
> Take it Out on Me ~Florida Georgia Line  
> Razor Blade ~Luke Bryan  
> Joystick ~Simon Curtis  
> Guys My Age ~Hey Violet  
> How to be a Heartbreaker ~Marina and the Diamonds  
> I'd Love to Chance the World (Matstubs remix) ~Jetta  
> Flesh ~Simon Curtis  
> Call Me Master ~Blood on the Dance Floor  
> Side to Side ~Ariana Grade ft. Nicki Minaj
> 
> Phew, that's a lot :P but there's my inspiration for the pace of everything, the writing probably fluxes with the songs, so if you're curious you can check those songs out.

            Arthur’s door was open. He had his back to it and was typing furiously on his terminal. Skaddi stood in his doorway and watched him, her heart aching. The young Elder let out a frustrated sigh and stood, turning toward her, probably to come close the door, and stopped when he saw her.

            “Skaddi, is everything all right?”

            She must have looked as distressed as she felt. She should tell him she was planning on spending time alone with MacCready tomorrow. She knew it would upset him though, and he already looked so stressed….

            The Dragonborn stepped inside and closed his door quietly. When she turned back his brows were drawn together and he was frowning. She cleared her throat and said, “I have never lied to you, nor will I start.”

            This put him on alert and he came forward, taking hold of her arms to look her over for any sign of injury or where she was going with the comment she’d just made. “Nor have I you, what is this about?”

            She looked at the latch on his uniform. She didn’t know what it was for, but it was on all of the flight suits, right under the buckle at the throat. “I agreed to go on a hunting trip tomorrow with MacCready once Nate has left for the Institute.” His jaw tightened and he closed his eyes. “He is my friend, and we only fight now. Maybe if we spend sometime alone how we were when I first got here… it will help us to understand our feelings for each other.”

            This made his eyes snap open and he looked at her closely. “Your feelings for each other? Do you not know how you feel about him?”

            Her heart stuttered. “No,” she said honestly and it looked as though she’d broken his heart. Pain creased his face and made him look like the young, twenty-year-old man he was. “The day you kissed me, he did as well, before you,” she explained and his lips pressed into a tight line. “He was the first person I met here that wasn’t trying to kill me. We traveled days together before I came upon Paladin Danse… I left him with Nate because he needed the coin and I knew he wouldn’t leave me for it. I never thought of him romantically until I found him again and he…”

            “But now you think of him like that? The same as me?”

            “I thought it would be an easy decision, Arthur, you…” her hands slid down his front from shoulder to hip. “You are the sort of man that I am drawn to. Not just physically, how you speak, hold yourself, the authority you have…” she shook her head. “I don’t know how but he’s made me look passed his mercenary exterior. He told me that he would come with me back to Skyrim, he just needs to cure his son…”

            At that Arthur pulled back from her, looking at his table. It seemed like he was trying to decide if he wanted a cigar or a drink. Then he grabbed a white bottle and poured a glass of clear liquid.

            “I have to go home, Arthur, and… I don’t want to be in love with someone who can’t come with me. What… what if we…” she swallowed against the lump in her throat as he turned his steel eyes onto her. “What if I stayed? And we were to get married, and I became pregnant, only then to be stolen from this world like I was from Skyrim?”

            His jaw tightened and he threw back the alcohol. Tears swelled in her eyes and she watched him. Maxson held his glass tighter and then threw it at the metal wall. Skaddi jumped at the sudden action and he turned to her.

            Her heart stopped as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his chest. His lips were on hers before she could breathe and she allowed herself to relax, the tears falling down her cheeks. She wrapped him up in her own embrace and locked her fingers in his hair, running over the close shaved stubble on the back and sides before making it to the thick locks at the top that grew so long. His beard scratched at her, but she relished the feel of it and pressed harder into the kiss, her teeth catching his lip.

            The young Elder slipped his tongue into her mouth and gave her a taste of the hard liquor he’d just drank. She liked it and groaned into him. His hands traced her from her shoulders down to her waist. Then he pulled her against him with a thrust of his hips and she felt his need.

            Her heart raced and she lowered her hands to his shoulders, slipping under his coat to push it down his arms. He got the hint and released her so he could remove the battle coat and toss it onto his table. Neither paid any mind to the sound of glasses falling off the table and bottles falling over.

            Arthur broke their kiss to look down at her, his hands coming back to rest on the curve of her waist. “We can stop,” he panted and she shook her head.

            “Take me,” she breathed and pulled him back into a kiss. His hands were quick, but not practiced. The buttons of her shirt were small and stuck, frustrating him, so he grasped the fabric and pried it apart to expose her to him, sending buttons to the floor like rain. The cool air of his quarters breezed over her and she yelped. Arthur pulled away and turned on the radio sitting on one of his dressers.

            While he was apart from her she took a moment to breathe, to confirm this was what she wanted. The heat between her legs that made her rub her thighs together told her: yes, yes this is exactly what she wanted.

            He was on her again, his beard scratching at her throat as he kissed his way down from her jaw to her collarbone. He picked her up and turned her over to his bed. It was soft under her back, the blanket scratchy, but not the worst she’d touched. It almost felt like his beard if she relaxed and didn’t think about it.

            Maxson straightened up and unbuckled his throat then pulled the zipper down its track to his waist. Skaddi looked at him, her pale eyes locked on the black hair that she could see protecting his pale skin. When she had massaged his back she hadn’t see his front, only the clean skin of his back, it had almost worried her that he would not have chest hair, but she’d been wrong in her assumption.

            He peeled the flight suit down his arms and stood in front of her, watching her assess him. It was perfect, and she sat up to run her fingers through it. A wide thick collection colored his pecks and then narrowed to follow the crease of his muscles down into the waistband of his uniform. It was soft, like the hair on his head rather than course like his beard. Touching it reminded her of a fox or rabbit. A smile split her lips and she adjusted herself, climbing up onto her knees to stand level with him.

            Arthur leaned in and kissed her, his hands automatically finishing the job he’d started in removing his shirt from her shoulders. Her mouth was the adventurous one now, moving to press into his cheek above the scruff, and then over the hair, down onto his neck. His hands roamed over her, feeling her curves and eventually making it to her breasts. She offered a pleasured sigh when he cupped it and then brushed his thumb over the stiff nipple. Her teeth grazed his neck, rewarding her with a muted moan from the Elder.

            Her belt was turned loose while her hands ran through his chest hair and she bowed to draw a wet line with her tongue down into the forest, stopping at his perked nipple. She teased it and he groaned at her, one of his hands coming up to her hair, pulling out the leather tie she used to keep it back. When her brown locks fell down passed her shoulders he grabbed a handful and gently pulled to get her to turn her face up.

            Maxson pressed his lips to hers and their tongues danced. His other hand slipped under the band of her smalls and started to push them down. Her heart stalled when his hand brushed against the hair protecting her core. It sent a shiver up her spine. He didn’t linger, he was working her borrowed pants down her strong thighs.

            They parted so she could lie back on the bed and he could untie her boots and get the jeans the rest of the way down. Then she was only in her bra. She swallowed, crossing her legs to hide herself from him. No one save her parents and Sanguine have seen this much of her, the former being when she was a child of course, while the later didn’t get a clear view.

            Arthur’s blue gaze was soft and a smile played on his lips as he looked down at her. She removed the last piece of clothing herself and watching him follow the motion until she was completely bare to him. He was lost in her, licking his lips without seeming to realize it. “You’re perfect,” he whispered to her, his breathing uneven.

            Her cheeks flushed and she turned her hips to keep herself hidden from him. “I’ve never…”

            He nodded and kicked off his boots. Then he stripped down the rest of the way and climbed onto the bed beside her. Her pale eyes followed the soft black hair on his chest, down the tampered line at his muscled stomach, and then to the mass at the bottom, acting like a root to the tree like shape. She had seen nude men before, on accident or on dead or dying bodies. Even so, she didn’t know how to compare him.

            He looked thick and long to her, like he would barely fit in that tight space between her legs. Nothing had been there save her fingers once or twice. She never had the privacy to touch herself, nor did she often feel the need, but now she wondered if it would make what came next easier.

            “Have you…?” she whispered as he came closer to her. He kissed her cheek and then her shoulder, rolling so he faced her.

            “Once, before I was promoted to Elder.” This surprised her, he was an attractive man and had power, authority. He seemed to understand her thoughts and nodded. “Like I told you before, I haven’t met a woman that looks at me and sees Arthur, all she sees is Maxson and she’s either obsessed with the idea of being with me or afraid of it.”

            She bit her lip and looked over his face. “I see you, Arthur.”

            A smile graced his pout lips, “I know.”

            Skaddi rolled over to face him and kissed him, a hand coming up to brush his beard. His arms circled her and pulled her to him, his excitement pressed into her thigh. Her heart couldn’t get any faster and she allowed him to take the lead, his fingers drawing soft lines down her side to her hip, then it dipped down between them and ran through her hair.

            When he urged her thighs apart, she lifted her leg and broke their kiss, biting her lip while his fingers found her folds. He smiled and pressed his forehead to hers.

            “You’re wet, that’s good, it means you like it,” he kissed her again and she tried to slow her breathing, her eyes flitting down to look at his hand between her legs. It felt naughty and bad, but the touch sent sweet shudders up her spine.

            Then one of his fingers grazed over her nub and she jerked at the sudden shock that shot through her. “Oh,” she breathed and he chuckled. He gently touched her again and she tried to resist jumping at the feeling. Instead, a hot line drew up her spine making her shake with pleasure.

            “Relax, Skaddi,” he breathed and began kissing at her jaw, his hand slipping between her folds and collecting her slick to spread it around and wet his fingers. Then one of his digits dipped into her and she arched her back, rolling flat on it to spread her legs better.

            Arthur adjusted and propted himself up on an elbow so he could still kiss her and get her neck. Then he moved down to her exposed breast, sucking a nipple into his mouth and dragging a heavy tongue over the hard peak. She wiggled below him and he smiled moving his hand to rub his palm over her clit and press that sweet spot inside with his middle finger.

            “Ah, Athur,” she grunted and arched her back more, pressing that tit into his mouth farther. He slid an arm under her and pulled her closer to he could reach across, passed her translation necklace and give the same attention to the other breast.  

            The heel of his hand ground against her harder and she cried out, arching her back and felt a wave take over her, numbing her for a moment before she clamped down around his thick finger and shook. Her breathing came in harsh pants and she looked up at the Elder when she could bring her vision back into focus.

            “What was… that?” she whispered.

            He smirked at her and said, “Your first orgasm,” then kissed her lips. When he pulled away she looked down at him as he kissed her chin, throat, down to her collarbone, to her sternum where he even pressed one into her golden amulet, and then followed the pale line of her stomach down to the thick hair down below.

            “What’re you–?” Skaddi’s question was cut off when his tongue touched her. “Oh–Divines!” she breathed and stared down at him with wide eyes.

            He smiled and lifted his head. “Let me know when you like something I do.” She nodded and then felt his finger slid inside her, arching up to press against that sweet spot that made her writhe beneath him. “Like that,” he complimented and sucked her sensitive nub into his mouth.

            “Ar–Arthur,” she arched her back and pressed into him, her hand coming up to grab his hair without thinking about it. His beard scratched at her thighs, and when he noticed she liked it, he lifted his face and bit gentle marks into the soft flesh on either side of him. Skaddi bucked and whimpered as his finger kept working on her and she panted, trying to make sense of all of the feelings he was drawing out of her.

            He added a digit and it didn’t take long for him to get that heat building up in her stomach and for her to start tensing up below him. Arthur lapped at her and sucked on her sensitive parts, leaving pale marks behind and causing his name to fall from her lips repeatedly. Then she nearly screamed it, muting it with her hand clapped over her swollen lips. The man between her legs chuckled and continued his pace, relentlessly.

            When she settled down she was soaked with sweat and shook her head. “I don’t think I can… I’m so… tired,” she panted and he withdrew his fingers, kissing her core so that his nose was pressed into her thick hair. She flushed, watching his eyes close as he drank her. He seemed to enjoy it, which comforted her.

            Then Arthur sat back on his heels and looked at her with a wide smile as he licked his fingers clean. “We can keep going, if you like,” he said and grabbed the shirt he’d ripped off of her and wiped at his face, drying his beard.

            Skaddi tried to slow her breathing. She didn’t think she could move. Her hand came up and brushed against her necklace. “I… I’m tired, I can’t do…”

            “You don’t have to do anything, let me,” he climbed up onto the bed over her and dipped his face down into her neck. She moaned and let her eyes flutter closed at the feeling of his teeth and tongue on her sensitive, sweaty neck.

            Her hands moved to hold him and they adjusted to each other, her legs drawing up and spreading wide while he settled in. “Will it hurt?” she whispered and he drew back, allowing the both to look down between them.

            “Everyone is different, but you’re really tight, Skaddi,” he spoke softly, his own breathing uneven. “I’ll go slow, you might want your spell though….”

            “O–okay,” she breathed and swallowed, her nerves starting to make her shake.

            “Relax,” he kissed her forehead. She tried and took a deep breath as he reached down and guided himself to her heat. She felt his thick head part her lips. It felt good until he pushed in and she began to stretch.

            “Ah–” she grunted and gritted her teeth together. Tears welled up in her eyes. He stopped and she shook her head, her legs wrapping around his waist. “More,” she hissed through clamped teeth and he nodded.

            She waited to cast her spell until he was all the way in. Then the sweet relief of the golden light touched her and she relaxed, panting below him, tears falling down her temples into her hair. “Let me know when you’re ready,” Arthur kissed her neck and slipped his arms under her to hold her against him. She allowed her legs to come down and put her feet on the bed. The young Elder brushed away her tears with his thumb, and nosed her necklace out of the spot it was stuck in on her chest.

            When the pain was gone she dropped the spell and sighed, “Arthur.”

            He took the hint and pressed their lips together, holding her head up to him while his other arm supported her back, giving her body a curve. When he withdrew and slid back in she gasped around his lips and clamped down around him, drawing out a groan from him.

            “Christ, Skaddi,” he breathed and kissed her again, pulling out and thrusting in with a gradual pace that gently shook the bed. He ground against her so she could feel him press against all of her walls. Then he picked up his pace and pressed his face into her neck and shoulder. Skaddi arched her back, pressing against him and moaned his name when he hit her right where it felt best.

            Breathing became hard with the stifling heat of Arthur on top of her, but he seemed to notice, or shared in it, because he paused in his thrusts to straighten up. She watched him adjust her, so that his legs were under her some and hers were straight up his chest, bending her slightly. At first it was uncomfortable, but the moment he pushed into her she felt the change and let out a satisfied breath.

            “Oh, that feels–” she grunted and he picked up the pace he’d had, cutting her off. Now Skaddi couldn’t reach him to run her fingers through his hair, so she settled on grabbing his powerful thighs and digger her nails into them. He made a wonderful sound that was similar to that of a growl, and looked down at her with adoring steel eyes.

            His jaw clamped tight and he spread her legs to allow him closer to her again, but supported himself with his hands on either side of her. Skaddi lifted her head to kiss him and he pressed his lips hard against hers, adjusting his arms so one pressed into the mattress above her shoulder and the other supported her neck, keeping her lifted to him. Now her hands ran up his hard sides and she raked her nails over his back and followed along the dips of muscles and old scars. Then up through the thick, black forest of his chest, down his hard stomach. His skin was as slick as hers with the effort he was putting into each thrust and as she looked up into his determined face, she knew he was forcing himself to hold back.

            His steel eyes were squeezed shut now, his lips pulled back over clenched teeth, and his nose wrinkled as he focused on everything but coming to his end. Skaddi found his throat and kicked her legs up around him to meet his thrusts, adding to the sensation. He grunted and faltered.

            “Skaddi–I’m… I’m–close. I need to know,” he took a deep breath and tried to speak clearly through his clenched teeth. “I need to know if I can–”

            “Inside,” she answered him and circled her arms around his neck.

            Another thrust and he stopped, his lips crashing down against hers in a loving kiss as he held her close. She could feel him pulse within her, and feel the sensation of added liquid.

            Then Maxson heaved a breath and settled into the mattress beside her, pulling out and leaving her with an odd empty feeling. She rolled over to face him and he scooped her up, pulling her to him with the last bit of strength he seemed to have.

            “I love you, Skaddi,” he breathed and she felt her heart stutter.

            “I… love you, too, Arthur,” she sighed and let her face rest on his chest, her fingers following the direction of his chest hair, drawing little designs.

            “You can go with him tomorrow, I can’t stop you, nor will I try. I just…” his hand on her tightened. “I don’t want him to create a sense of doubt for me in you. If you decide to stay, I will marry you, and we will have a family, and your life here will be everything you want, Skaddi. If you decide to go…” he frowned and swallowed, but continued, “Then you can go, and if you want me to, given that I am able, I will find a way to visit you, and spend what time I can with you there. But… I cannot leave here permanently, not with the responsibilities I have.”

            She looked down at his stomach, at hers pressed to his side. She ended her blood a few days ago; her mother told her women were most fertile in the time most between bleedings. It depended on the woman, though, and she wondered if this one time could be enough to make her pregnant. If she was ready for that…

            “I don’t know, I have to see how things are in Skyrim before I decide…”

            “Of course, Skaddi,” he kissed her head and then gripped her tighter, adjust them so they lied the correct way on the bed rather than across it. She kept her head on his peck and toyed with his nipple while he relaxed.

            They were quiet for a long time and then she started to pull away, “I should get back to my quarters….”

            “You’re not staying?” his brows pulled together and she looked down at him when she sat up.

            “You want me to?”

            His face shared her shock. “You think I would love you and send you away?”

            “No… I just… I’ve never done this…” she flushed brightly and nervously ran her hand through her hair. “I don’t know what people do…”

            “I can’t say the same for others, but I would very much prefer you stay…” he looked back down at the empty space beside him she’d just removed herself from.

            “Oh, okay,” she smiled and then looked down at herself. “Can we… bathe?”

            Arthur grinned and nodded, “Together?”

            Her cheeks brightened even more. “Aye…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AWE SO COOT! I love fluffy smut....


	17. Good Company

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's nice to wake up beside the Elder... too bad he can't really kiss you goodbye when you go on a hunting trip with another man...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good Company ~Oliver and Company
> 
> Longer chapter, some how it got away from me, not too much action, but there's a tad bit of smut over flowing from the last chapter, and then we got some plot stirring, can't forget about the plot!  
> 

            Skaddi woke up to the blaring sound of a creature she’d never heard before. Then the bed moved and she jumped, eyes snapping open despite the darkness. Someone was in bed with her–

            Oh, it was Arthur…

            The young Elder stood up from the bed and strode over to whatever was making that horrendous noise and shut it up. Then he padded over to the door and turned the light on. The blinding flash made Skaddi throw her arm over her eyes and groan.

            “What time is it…?”

            “Five.”

            Oh yes, he had to work out in the mornings…. Skaddi peeked through the crease of her elbow and then smiled, seeing Arthur stand in front of his dresser completely nude, shifting through clothing.

            “What sort of work outs do you normally favor?”

            He glanced over at her with a lifted brow and then smiled. She pulled the blanket up over her bare chest, suddenly feeling shy.

            Their bath last night had been anything but cleansing. They both fit together so perfectly, and the tub encouraged they stay so very close. Once they had gotten as clean as they were going to in the water, they went back to the bed and held each other, kissing and whispering in the darkness until they fell asleep. It felt wrong to lie here with her legs together –she needed him between them….

            “Perhaps I’ll try something a little different this morning?”

            Her thighs rubbed together under the blanket. “Such as?”

            He strode over to her, allowing her to see him standing up, ready for anything. When he slid into the bed his arms slipped under her and he pulled her close. She giggled and pulled him into a kiss by the back of his head. His hands roamed down her sides and pushed down the blanket, exposing her to the chilling air of his quarters. Then he lowered his face to her neck and pulled her hip to him.

            “Mmm, Arthur,” she breathed as he lowered his mouth to her collarbone then passed her necklace to her breast. He gave a top a bite before latching onto a nipple and suckling on it like a child. It felt amazing, and it made her cradle him like the babe he was simulating, their eyes locked on each other’s. “Oh…”

            A knock rapped on the door and Arthur grunted, frowning before lifting his head from her. “Yes?”

            Skaddi relaxed into the bed, allowing Arthur to hold her against him while Lancer-Captain Kells spoke up, “Ingram just stopped by to inform me the Beam Emitter has been completed and that Nate Briars is most eager to be sent to the Institute.”

            “Kells… it’s oh-five hundred.”

            “Yes, sir. And there is still the matter of connecting all of the instruments together and sending him off with the required essentials.”

            Arthur sighed, closing his eyes and pressing his face into Skaddi’s chest, his forehead lying on her necklace. He mumbled something about knowing his privacy wasn’t going to last. “Get it started, then, I’ll be out once I’ve finished my morning routine.”

            “Yes, sir.”

            Arthur kissed Skaddi again and held her tightly. She moaned into his mouth and started to spread her legs. “We don’t have much time,” he whispered sadly moving to her neck.

            “That’s fine,” she breathed and arched against him.

            Arthur adjusted himself and reached down to feel her, smiling, “It’s nice knowing you want this as much as I do.”

            She smiled back at him and then moaned as he pushed his throbbing head into her soaked folds. “Arthur,” she moaned and clamped down around him.

            The young Elder straightened up and adjusted her legs so that they were back into the same position as last night, with her feet up beside his face and his fingers digging into her hips, pulling her into his thrusts. She muted her cries with her hands, biting them gently when he hit the perfect spot over and over.

            As he drew closer, he leaned forward, arching her back. He kissed her feet and nipped at her heels, sending shivers up her spine. Then Maxson pushed as deep as he could and held her legs tight against his chest while he came, filling her with that familiar sensation that made her smile and flush.

            Skaddi bit her fingers and lifted her necklace from the start of sweat glistened on her skin. Then he parted her legs and bent down to kiss her. She wrapped her arms around him and held him to her, loving the feeling of his hairy chest against her breasts.

            “Need to rinse off and get dressed,” he sighed and stood up, withdrawing from her so she felt empty.

            “All right,” she breathed and joined him in the shower so they could get the smell of sweat and sex off of them.

            Skaddi dressed in a flight suit that Arthur helped her zip up –not that she needed it, but she liked how he looked at her while he did so. She returned the favor in full, and they embraced, kissing again before he went to the door and they stepped out onto the Main Deck.

            It was only six in the morning, but there were clusters of soldiers up and wondering around, finishing their workouts and going to the showers, or finishing up their nights and getting ready for bed. She decided she wanted to see Reagan and Danse before going down to the airport below. Maxson nodded his understanding and gave the small of her back a touch before pulling his coat on and descending the ladder. When he was gone she walked down the hall to the medbay and peeked her head in.

            Reagan was still in the bed but she wasn’t hooked up to anything anymore and Danse was asleep beside her, his face resting on the bed next to her, his arms working as a pillow. Skaddi stepped inside and noticed the healer wasn’t currently here. When the Skaal woman got a little closer Reagan’s eyes fluttered open. The whites were back, but her honey irises were still black.

            She lifted her hand and pressed her first finger to her lips and then rested her hand on the Paladin’s soft black hair. “It’s the first time he’s slept so long…” she whispered so softly that Skaddi almost didn’t hear her.

            The Dragonborn stepped forward and then smiled a little at the two. “Have you told him?”

            Reagan flushed and snorted quietly, “You kidding? He won’t stop blaming himself for what happened. He’s been using all his leave days to just sit here so I don’t have to be alone…” tears filled her eyes and she looked down at him. “Merr coms by whenever Quinlan isn’t having her sort technical documents or running some stupid errands. Rhys swung by while he was onboard, and even Glass stopped in to check on me, but only Danse has stayed…”

            “I think he shares your feelings, Reagan…”

            The Knight flushed and blinked, eyes wide as she stared at the nord woman. “I… no, I would have noticed….”

            “Why else would he stay?”

            “He feels guilty,” she pointed out and Skaddi sighed.

            “Guilty enough to drop all of his duties to sit beside you without break?”

            “Well, he takes bathroom breaks, and I make him leave when I have to go…” she smirked and the Dragonborn pressed her hand into her forehead.

            “Aye, very well, don’t tell him.”

            “Don’t tell who, what?” the groggy Paladin’s voice cut Reagan off as she opened her mouth to speak. The Knight looked at her Commanding Officer and flushed as he lifted his head and showed off the state of his swept back hair, now sporting a rather humorous flat side from where it’d rested on his arms. He rubbed his brown eyes with the heel of his hand and then noticed Reagan’s hand, which had slid to his shoulder.

            “Nothing, sir,” she breathed and he frowned, his gaze flitting up to Skaddi to see if she had anything to add.

            She did not want to lie, and she was about fed up with them. But she’d promised Reagan she wouldn’t say anything. “Don’t tell Nate about the way she thinks his speech is laughable.”

            “His voice, Skaddi,” she corrected coolly and the looked over at Danse whose sleepy eyes flicked between them as if he didn’t fully believe the cover. The Skaal kept her expression even and the man frowned.

            “Why are you talking about Nate Briars?”

            “He and Proctor Ingram have finished their devices to get him into the Institute,” Skaddi shrugged and Reagan nodded.

            “And it’s better than talking about how our favorite little Dragonborn finally got laid.”

            Both Danse and Skaddi snapped straight to attention which only made Reagan laugh harder. “How did you…?”

            The Knight laughed louder and covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh god… I wasn’t sure, but… oh that’s awesome.”

            “I am confused,” Skaddi frowned at the woman who tried to slow her breathing, but made the mistake of glancing sideways at the Paladin who was folding his arms across his chest and quirking a brow at her.

            “Oh… I’m only a little sorry, Danse,” she coughed and patted her chest. “Phew… anyway, yeah, I can see it in your walk, you’re not so uptight anymore, and you have a little shake in your knees. Plus your hair has some extra volume that only happens when you’re–”

            “All right, that’s enough,” Danse cut in and Skaddi huffed out the breath she was holding.

            “Was it Arthur?” Reagan grinned and Skaddi flushed brighter. “Yes! Yes! Finally!” the Knight nearly started dancing and the Paladin beside her sighed and rubbed his forehead. “One Elder down, one stiff backed Paladin to go–!”

            Reagan stopped where she was and stiffened just as Danse straightened up and stared at her with wide, creamy brown eyes. “What… was that, Knight?”

            The woman’s freckled cheeks were flushed bright, over flowing onto her nose and down her jaw. “I… uh, didn’t mean you… sir, just…” she cleared her throat and looked up at Skaddi for help, but the Dragonborn smirked and crossed her arms, watching the Knight shrink back in on herself and turn her dark eyes on the man who was staring at her, his expression unreadable. “I… plead the Fifth…”

            “Reagan.”

            “Sebastian.”

            “Both of you, I swear by the Divines,” Skaddi snapped. The soldiers turned to look at her and she put her hands on her hips. “Both. Of. You.”

            “I don’t know what you’re–” Danse started as Reagan said, “Sebastian, I have something to say.”

            The man jerked his attention to the Knight beside him and stared at her with wide eyes. “Y–yes, Knight?”

            She swallowed hard and looked down at the hand she’d removed from his shoulder a while ago and now had resting at her side. She reached out and took his closest one, having to bend some, but he lifted it so she could reach it easier. Then she gulped again and squeezed his fingers. “Danse, I…” she looked up to meet his eyes and bit her lip.

            The Paladin leaned forward, his free hand lifting to Reagan’s cheek and he stood to close the distance. Their lips found each other’s and then they closed their eyes. Skaddi nearly squealed with joy and quietly backed up to give them some time alone.

            As she climbed into the vertibird to go down to the airport, she smiled to herself and thought about her guards. They would no doubt be happier now…

            Skaddi grinned wider and held onto the belts securing her to her seat as the ‘bird dropped from the Prydwen’s dock and started its descent to the airport below. Today was going to be a great day. She knew that things would get cleared up between her and MacCready on their hunting trip, she could feel it.

            The ‘bird landed and Skaddi unbuckled herself and strode happily to the area her forge was built with the massive technological contraptions that Nate was working on. When she arrived, she cast her gaze sideways to see Maxson standing with his hands behind his back, watching Ingram and Kells as they spoke with Nate and finished up some last minute things. A few scribes were linking wires together from the power creating generators and the towering metal constructions.

            “Pretty cool, huh?”

            Skaddi nearly jumped at the hand touching her back and glanced over her shoulder at MacCready. She smiled and nodded. “We do not have power like this in Skyrim, we use candles and lanterns for light.”

            “We do too some places,” he shrugged. “How’d you sleep? You look good,” he smiled at her and looked her over. He didn’t seem to notice the same things as Reagan.

            “I slept very well. And yourself?”

            He smirked, “Great. Was excited to see you.”

            She smiled and looked back at the others. “Where will we go?”

            “Not too far, just into the city some: see if there are any super mutants maybe mirelurks.”

            “Mirelurks?” she lifted a brow.

            “Ah, the giant crabs,” he clarified and she nodded her understanding. “Maybe we can stop by Goodneighbor, I’m sure Hancock would like to speak again.”

            “Hancock? The one who thinks I am a child’s toy?” she tilted her head at him. “The one who pointed me to the Railroad?”

            “All right, not Goodneighbor then,” he chuckled and lifted his hat to run his fingers through his hair. It was damp –he’d just taken a shower. She looked him over and then turned her eyes back to Maxson who was watching Ingram hand a small yellow box to Nate that she knew now to be a ‘holotape’ that was used on terminals to play sounds or show words.

            “What is he going to do with that?” Skaddi asked and MacCready shrugged.

            “Knowing the Brotherhood it’s got something to do with infiltrating the Institute’s computers. It probably catches data like a net, but,” he rolled his shoulders again, “I’m not really a techy guy, so that’s just my guess.”

            “To find a weakness,” she said and looked at him. He nodded.

            “Not that they need it, I’m sure the Brotherhood could wipe out anything that stood against them,” he met her eyes. “Specially with you in their arsenal.”

            Her jaw set and she frowned, turning her eyes to her forge. “I should finish the blade I’m crafting while they send him off. I’m sure Nate will want you close.”

            “Yeah, probably so he can pass me all his junk. He treats me like a bank…”

            Skaddi grinned, “What else are companions for?”

            “Very funny,” he smirked at her and she took her leave.

 

 

            It wasn’t until the sun was high in the sky, marking the middle of the day, that Skaddi was startled by the thunderous shock of the army of generators firing up and the machines they were linked to buzzing to life. The scribes around her turned their attention over to the device and she checked her dagger one more time before deciding it was finished and sat it down on the table and pulled her gloves off.

            She made her way over and stopped beside MacCready who was standing a safe distance back. Maxson and Ingram were speaking while Nate paid his mercenary a final glance and climbed onto the platform.

            The Elder stepped away from the Proctor and came to Skaddi’s side. She smiled over at him and he nodded to her, his face stoic, though his steel blue eyes were kind. Then he put his hands behind his back and watched as Ingram shouted out her status on ‘finding a signal to intercept’ and there being ‘a lot of interference’.

            “What is it going to do?” Skaddi said without looking at either man beside her.

            Maxson answered, “You’re about to see him be teleported into the Institute using their molecular relay.”

            “Teleportation is a magic I have yet to learn, though I lack the desire,” she added off handedly and both men glanced at her sideways.

            “Ah! Got one! Hold on tight, Briars!” Ingram laughed.

            There was a flash of blue light and the bystanders flinched, covering their eyes. Something, or maybe everything, exploded, and hot air bathed Skaddi and her company. After images were left on her vision, but when she blinked them away she could see that all of the technology that had been created to send Nate to the Institute was blacked, scorched and broken. Nate… was nowhere to be seen.

            “Did it work?”

            “Yes!” Ingram laughed and came forward, her power armor stomping loudly. Skaddi had never noticed before, but the woman’s legs were missing just above the knees. It would explain why she always walked around in the armor frame with no pieces equipped to it. The Proctor smiled broadly down at them and then let her eyes settle on the Elder. “Now… we wait for him to return.”

            There was a chuckle from a scribe behind them, “Hurry up and wait.”

            Skaddi frowned at that. “What… if they kill him?” she lifted an eyebrow and the Proctor and Elder frowned.

            “We just have to trust he’ll make it back. Hopefully with Madison Lee,” Maxson added with a sideways glance at the armor wearing Proctor.

            “Yes. I’ll get my scribes started on dismantling the equipment and moving it to the tarmac.”

            “Thank you, Proctor.”

            “Sir,” she bowed her head and backed away from him.

            “We should probably get going, Skaddi, city gets more dangerous at night,” MacCready said and she looked over at him.

            “All right, just a moment,” she turned back to Arthur who let his steel gaze flick to the mercenary before settling on her pale eyes. She offered him a comforting smile, “I’ll be back tomorrow.”

            Maxson stepped closer to her as MacCready started to leave. “I’ll be waiting as patiently as I am able, but know, I’m known for many other skills before that.”

            She smiled at him and slipped her arms under his battle coat to hug him. He closed his arms around her and kissed her hair. She pressed her lips into his neck. “I love you.”

            “I love you,” he spoke it like it was a promise and she pulled away. “Come back to me safe.”

            “Always,” she swore and started backing up. Then she turned and jogged over to her forge, grabbing her combat armor, weapons, and knapsack. She turned to a scribe and grabbed the dagger she’d made. “Give this to Protector Quinlan, tell him I call it the ‘Letter Opener’.”

            The scribe took it and nodded, grinning at the name as she turned and ran to catch up with the tan dusters ahead of her.

 

 

            “I don’t know… I think I’d just rather use my bow…”

            “Come on, I’ll show you.”

            “MacCready…”

            “Skaddi, just relax, look, it’s easy.”

            Her breathing picked up as he settled in beside her and circled his long, thin arms around her, adjusting her hold on his sniper rifle. She tried not to look at him, but it was hard now that he was resting his chin on her shoulder, his left arm crossing her back so that he very nearly was lying on top of her.

            “Look through the scope, and line up the crosshairs on your target first.”

            “Okay,” she breathed and tried to look into the cylinder on the top of the gun. “Everything’s fuzzy.”

            “Just… adjust yourself, close one eye to start and move around until you see it clearly, then move the gun to the target.” She did what he asked and nearly jumped as a face of a super mutant filled her vision. He laughed. “Yeah, I think you got it, now, there’s some wind, and that’s pretty far, so you have to compensate,” he started explaining. She frowned.

            “I would just like to use my bow…”

            “Come on,” he smiled at her and she looked at his sky-like eyes. He was having so much fun, and she felt like such a depressing presence because it was growing dark and it was muggy and gross in the city. Like traveling through a marsh. She hated Morthal for the sticky, stinky, soft, and soaking soil. With a huff and settled back in and looked down the scope.

            “So I aim a little high and to the left?”

            “Just a little, don’t want to go too far, over compensating can be worse than just firing on the target.”

            “Okay…”

            She took in a slow breath and then rested her finger on the trigger like MacCready had shown her. His hand moved to overlap hers and her breathing caught. “When you fire let your breath out slowly.”

            “Like firing a bow.”

            “Yeah.”

            She did. The sniper rifle shot back and smacked her shoulder hard, but MacCready’s hands on top of hers kept it steady and prevented her from dropping the chunk of wood. They both looked up to see the super mutant’s head pop and for him to fall to the ground in a limp heap.

            “I knew you could do it,” he smiled and her and hugged her tighter. Pride swelled in her chest and she grinned at him sideways, brushing some hair from her eyes.

            “Thank you.”

            MacCready looked over her face and bit his lip. He had that look in his eye, the one he had so often now. She tried to look away, but she was frozen, staring into his sky-like eyes. “Skaddi?”

            “Hmm?”

            “I’d like to kiss you.”

            She flushed and looked away. At the sniper rifle, at his hands overlapping hers. “I… I don’t want to.”

            “Okay,” he breathed and rested his chin on her shoulder. She looked over at him, lifting a brow.

            “What’re you doing?”

            “Trying to… relax.”

            She frowned and swallowed, looking through the scope at the area ahead. Then she froze, going stiff. Sanguine stood over dead super mutant, smiling at her.

            “You okay, Skaddi?”

            “Uh, yeah,” she breathed and Sanguine smirked at her, giving her a raised brow and then tilted his head in a way to gesture to MacCready. Her jaw tightened and then the Daedric Prince shrugged, the smile stuck lopsidedly on his lips.

            “What is it? Is something out there?”

            “You… don’t see him?” Skaddi lifted her head and looked with her naked eye and did not see the Prince. “I…”

            “What is it?”

            “I… saw…” her brows came together and when she lowered her eye back to the scope he was gone. “I saw… Sanguine.”

            “Who?”

            “The Prince of Debauchery.”

            “What did he want?”

            The Dragonborn stiffened. “He wants me to worship him… with you.”

            There was a pause from the sniper, and then a light chuckle, “Well, wouldn’t want to piss him off, now would we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter should be fun!


	18. Why Don't You Do Right

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skaddi tells MacCready off and goes back to Maxson.  
> SMUT!  
> Little different kind of smut, me thinks, it took on a VERY different feel, hope you like it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why Don't You Do Right ~Who Framed Roger Rabbit

            Skaddi’s breathing was coming in swift pants, making her head light. Had what she and Maxson done not been enough?

            No… what she and Maxson had done wasn’t what he was interested in.

            Frowning, she tried to control her breathing as MacCready shifted beside her and sat up. “Hey, I was just kidding…”

            “No you weren’t,” she breathed and nearly choked on it as she tried to inhale and exhale the words at the same time.

            Skaddi straightened up and pushed the gun into his chest so he grabbed it and frowned at her. “I’m sorry,” he started and she shook her head, standing up.

            “I came with you on this trip to straighten things out. Here it is, MacCready,” she stared down at him. “I am with Arthur, no matter your opinions of him.”

            “Is he going to go back to Skyrim with you?” the mercenary stood up and Skaddi’s hands balled up into fists.

            “And what if I don’t want to return to Skyrim?” she asked the skinny man. He opened his mouth, then shut it, frowning at her.

            “Why do you suddenly not want to go home?” Her jaw tightened and he looked her over. “Did he make a promise to you? That he’d marry you or something? Something that reminds you of home?” When she glared at him he nodded. “You know he’s just talking out his ass to keep you around, right?”

            “And what of you?” she tilted her head at him.

            “I want to help you –to get you home,” he pointed out and Skaddi looked away.

            “You want to bed me.”

            “And Maxson doesn’t?” MacCready moved to stand in front of her so she had to look at him. “You’re a beautiful woman, Skaddi. Powerful, strong, smart, independent, and…” he shook his head, “Amazing.”

            “Please stop.”

            “No. Does he tell you how great you are?” he stepped closer and Skaddi stiffened.

            “How Arthur speaks to me is none of your business, MacCready,” she backed away from him and he frowned at her.

            “You keep calling him ‘Arthur’,” he spat and his face twisted in disgust. “What’s he done to you to make you so damn in love with him?” Her cheeks flushed and he blinked. “No…” pain filled his face and relaxed all the tension that had been rising in him, causing his shoulders to drop. “No, Skaddi… you didn’t… you didn’t sleep with him did you?”

            Her cheeks burned bright red and she clamped her jaw shut tightly, looking at the ground.

            “No wonder you’re so obsessed with him! The asshole stole you virginity!” he shouted and seemed to forget his aversion to swearing. She glared up at him.

            “Stole? You think I would allow someone to touch me if I did not want it?” she came toward him and he turned his hard stare on her.

            “I think he manipulated you into thinking this is a two way relationship, and you fell for it.”

            Skaddi’s blood boiled. She couldn’t believe this, he really wasn’t going to change. He wasn’t going to just… be her friend like he had been. He was going to keep trying to be more, and he was going to end up hurting them both unless he got it.

            “I’m going back to the Prydwen, MacCready,” she stated and turned her back to him, starting to head back the way they’d come.

            “No, Skaddi, stop, it’s late,” he came after her. “You could get hurt.”

            “I am not delicate, I have hunted alone since I was twelve and slain dragons single-handedly,” she didn’t look back at him. “I have had to face a camp of Foresworn with nothing but Ice in my grasp to save my housecarl, Argis. I have dueled Tsun in Sovngarde to prove my worth as a warrior. I have fought giants, and spiders as larges as these… cars,” she waved at the rusted metal frame, “And casters who can summon the undead or create beings of the elements, and machines three stories tall!” She stopped and looked back at him. MacCready stood straight, staring at her with wide eyes. “I am Skaddi Ice-Hunter, Skaal warrior, Dragonborn, Defeater of Alduin the World Eater, Thane of the Nine Holds of Skyrim, Harbinger of the Companions, Leader of the Thieves Guild, Listener to the Dark Brotherhood, Champion of Ulfric Stormcloak, the true High King of Skyrim and four Daedric Princes.” She stopped and looked at the sky, then. “You hear me? Sanguine? Sheogorath? Boethiah? Nocturnal? I still lay claim to the title! Even when you forsake me!”

            “Skaddi, keep your voice down…”

            “No!” she shouted at him and the ground quaked. He stumbled and looked down at it then at her. She had never put Power into her normal speech, but it felt good, and released some of her anger.

            Skaddi turned away from the mercenary and started walking again, reaching up and grabbing her great sword, Ice, from her back and holding it ready incase anything was stupid enough to attack her on her way back home.

            Home to the Prydwen.

            Home to Arthur’s arms….

 

 

            The sun was a few hours from rising when she made it to the airport. She was exhausted and covered in mud, sweat, and blood –and she wasn’t sure how much of the latter was her own.

            The soldiers that saw her drew their weapons at first, probably because she looked like a common bandit, but quickly put them away when they saw Ice gripped tightly in her right hand, held with the point facing down, dripping some brownish blood onto the rock road.

            A few people tried to talk to her, she simply said she needed to get to the Prydwen. Of course, this wasn’t really possible as the vertibird that flew between them stopped running between ten at night and four thirty in the morning to reserve fuel. It made sense as most people didn’t need to travel at that time, but that meant she had four more hours before the ‘bird would be up and flying.

            So Skaddi went to her forge.

            Arrows were _really_ the only things she could make that would be finished in that short of time. And it was something she could do without having to thing about. Her mind drifted away, her fingers moving to follow the pattern they’d done so many times.

            As soon as her thoughts fell on MacCready she sighed. Of course that had happened. Why did she think he was going to back off? To accept her as a friend instead of lover…?

            She wasn’t stupid; she knew all along, she just wouldn’t admit it to herself. Now she felt like if she would have said something sooner, she could have saved herself this exhaustion. The trip back at been filled with giant mudcrabs, super mutants, ghouls, and feral hounds trying to kill her.

            It was quite relaxing to slaughter them all. She’d felt so domestic… how long since she let go and just _killed_ everything in front of her? Since returning from the Glowing Sea, yes?

            Her brows lifted, it felt like much longer than only a few days. So much had happened.

            Now she had a headache, and was feeling quite irritable, sleep called to her, but she wanted to bathe and change before that. Her flight suit was stained and torn, and her combat armor would need repaired –since it wasn’t something she wasn’t comfortable doing she had to let someone else.

            That annoyed her.

            She never had to rely on others to do that sort of thing for her. Skaddi had always been a decent blacksmith and was normally the one others went to for help…

            The whirl of a vertibird coming to life made her straighten up and watch the machine lift off and head up to the Prydwen, carrying the night shift up. She would catch the next one.

 

 

            The Dragonborn nearly stumbled off the ‘bird and hit the dock with uneven footing. She paid those around her no mind as she made her way up to the Command Deck, and then the Main Deck. Climbing the stairs and ladder were the most exhausting part because her legs and arms ached from over use.

            Pausing in her quarters to drop her armor and weapons, she quickly abandoned the space and went to the door between Brotherhood flags. It only took a moment after her knock for Maxson to open the door.

            He took one look at her and glared. “What did he do?”

            “I’d like a shower first,” she whispered and he stepped back allowing her in and closed the door. Skaddi started unzipping her flight suit as she made her way to the washroom.

            “Tell me what he did, Skaddi.”

            “It…” she stopped in the doorway and looked at the shower against the wall, the bath circling the bottom. It was so inviting. “Sanguine was there. He wanted me with… MacCready. I denied him,” she looked back to see the Elder scowling at the white bottle sitting on his table. He seemed to be wondering if it was too early to start drinking. “Have you done your work outs yet?”

            “No. I had only just turned my alarm off when you knocked.”

            She nodded and stepped into the washroom to go to the shower, leaving the door open as she peeled the suit down off her shoulders. With it pushed to her waist she bent and started to untie her boots.

            “Sanguine isn’t happy, then?”

            His voice was coming from the doorway, she didn’t look up at him and just kept untying her laces. “He didn’t seem… upset. Just smiled and pointed out his desire.”

            “I imagine he wasn’t impressed with what we did. Hardly counted as debauchery.”

            She sighed and straightened up, kicking off the boots and then finished removing the uniform. A flash of modesty warmed her cheeks and she glanced back at Arthur who was watching her. He was dressed in a pair of loose fitting cloth pants and a white sleeveless top. The hair of his chest was dark enough to tint the shirt, and peeked over the hem of its throat. The fabric itself seemed to fit him well, tight by not strained against his muscled form. She could see the outline of his stomach and the lines of his pecks.

            His steel-blue eyes were roaming over her, the way her bra held her breasts up, allowing her shoulders to sit straight despite their weight, the curve of her spine that lead to a round rear that stuck out with volume, and then bowed in to the back of thick, strong thighs. Skaddi had noticed some women here had legs like pillars, gaps between them and couldn’t even make the flesh touch when their heels were pushed together. The Dragonborn was about as far from that as one could be. The shapeliness of her form had never bothered her, and with Arthur looking at her now with his head cocked to the side and his arms folded while he leaned against the doorframe, she didn’t think he minded one bit.

            “Perhaps we praise him, then. Together in a way he would enjoy watching?” Skaddi breathed, her voice low and thick with a need that started to burn in her stomach.

            “I was just thinking the same thing.”

            Then he was on her. His hot hands roaming over all of her exposed flesh while their lips locked, then opened to each other. Dancing tongues and playful nips followed as she reached under his shirt to touch his stomach and chest, feeling the soft hair dusting the hard muscle. He wasn’t so gentle, his fingers brushing against her just as often as they paused to cling, grabbing hold of her and leaving a soft ache of pressure when he released.

            Arthur removed her smalls and she pulled off his shirt, tossing it to the ground beside her flight suit. When they kissed again his hands reached down to cup her ass, and then lift her from where she was stretching up on her toes. Her legs swung around him and held tight to his waist as he adjusted his hold and walked them to a wall.

            A harsh gasp left her as the cold steel stunned her. From ass to shoulder blade he pressed her to the wall to aid in holding her while he kicked off his trousers. Skaddi shuddered, his mouth lowering to her neck where he bit and sucked on her skin until she was sure marks were going to spring up.

            Moans and gasps quickly filled the air, the young Elder’s hand freeing itself of her arse to delve between them and start testing her core. It wasn’t like how he’d touched her before. Now he seemed overtaken with need, and she felt it just the same.

            His thick fingers brushed her clit, making her buck, and then dipped inside, drenching them with her slick. A low, rumbling sound vibrated his chest while she breathed his name, her voice shaking with the rest of body. It was all still so new to her, and though he didn’t have much experience, it seemed to come naturally to him. Something inside of him told him how to touch her, or maybe it was her body?

            She arched her back against the wall when he found that little bundle of nerves in her core, pressing against it over and over with curling fingers. His mouth found her breast and he latched on, letting his teeth graze the erect nipple and make her whimper. This man made her feel weak, but it was the best kind of weakness.

            Arthur didn’t take advantage of her, didn’t turn this into a power play. He was doing this for them both. Both of them needed this contact as much as the other, and he was more than willing to take charge and step up. This suited her just fine; she was tired of being a leader and wanted to be led.

            Maxson hooked an arm under he knee and hiked up her leg to spread her wider to him. Skaddi helped him hold her by throwing her arms over his shoulders, allowing one hand to slide up over the rough of his shaved head into the thick black-brown hair, the other dragging her nails over his spine and blades with enough pressure to leave welts. This earned her an arousing, guttural sound in his throat that slipped out of the space between his teeth and her flesh.

            This time he eased himself in to the sound of her intake of breath, but only graced her with a moment of relief. Arthur planted his feet apart and the hand under her leg against the wall, his other holding her up with the aid of her own strength and the wall she was being driven into.

            Then he started up his relentless rhythm.

            The Skaal woman had expected to be slowly worked up, like last time. The young Elder had other plans, and dove right in, bucking his hips up into her, filling the air with the soaked slaps of colliding bodies. This sent shocks through her, shooting up her spine and burning hot in her belly. Her toes grew numb and her mind clouded, only able to understand that overwhelming heat of the man surrounding her, pressing her against the now scalding steel wall.

            His breathing was rough, panting through clenched teeth as he looked her over between his possessive bites and kisses. His eyes no longer were blue, but pure steel, forged from an eternal flame that flared with his passion. Sweat slicked their skin, salting their tongues when they tasted each other.

            Skaddi was light headed, but not lost, offering him up gasping words of praise when he touched her right. The coiling heat in her abdomen twisted and her toes curled, everything tightening below her waist. Her fingers latched onto his roots, pulling him into her own dominating kiss. He thrust his tongue between her lips and pushed her deeper into the wall, her head pressing against the steel.

            The Dragonborn shattered, feeling her entire being flash, crackling like a soul stolen by a snare to fill a gem, or even the essence of dragons she syphoned upon their death. If this was what losing one’s soul felt like, she wasn’t sure she minded all that much…

            Arthur continued his pace, but it grew erratic and he quickly followed her into orgasmic bliss, filling her with the seed of his love and need. As feeling returned to her, Skaddi relaxed in his grasp between his searing chest and the damp steel wall. Her legs were eased back down so she could land on her toes, and he slid out of her, leaving her dripping, a sight they both paid tribute to for a moment.

            Neither spoke for a long time, watching her thighs glisten before wrapping their arms around the other and fell right back into the passion they’d barely settled down from. His thick lips were buried in that beard, and she loved searching through it to find them, staking her claim with bites at his lower lip and tongue when it showed itself. His large hand cradled the back of her head, his fingers tangling in her hair, pulling her even closer.

            “You are mine,” he said against her mouth, then and she felt a pleasured shudder run down her spine. “As I am yours.”

            “Aye, no other may have us,” she agreed, parting from him only enough to look into his eyes, the flame was still lit behind the steel, but the blue returned as the metal cooled.


	19. An Ordinary Miracle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another portal opens and spits out a little something from Skyrim!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An Ordinary Miracle ~Hunchback of Notre Dame II

            There was a thundering clap that shook the Prydwen. Alarms began to sound, and Arthur had thrown himself from the bed before Skaddi’s eyes opened. The light flashed on and she threw her hand up to shield her gaze.

            “What was that?”

            “Sounded like an attack, come, get dressed,” he took her hand and pulled her to him, out of the bed. Groggily, she rubbed at her face and glared at the high pitched, metallic whines of the siren. There was a loud knock on the door and Arthur turned, “Yes?”

            “Sir, something’s fallen from the sky and landed in water.”

            “ _Something_?”

            “Uh, yes sir. There was a… black and… purple? Void… thing in the clouds–”

            “A portal,” Skaddi stiffened and grabbed the flight suit that Maxson was holding. She threw it on quickly, ignoring her lack of smallclothes, and then went to the door. When the young Elder was beside her, they both stepped out to see the mass of people rushing around. The Dragonborn ignored them all, leaving Arthur’s side as his soldiers snagged him, asked questions and bombarded him with information.

            She needed to know what came out of the portal.

            Without bothering with the ladder, Skaddi dropped down the hole and hit the ground running. When she got to the door she didn’t have to open it, people were rushing in and out, so she just slipped between a scribe and a suit of armor and nearly fell down the stairs to the Flight Deck.

            Soldiers were gaping at the massive void in the sky. Skaddi got out just in time to see it start to shrink, fold in on itself and fade away. Her eyes turned down to the water were something had been dropped from the portal. She could see something coming up onto the shore.

            “I need down there,” she looked at the lancer beside her, then she recognized him to be Michael Glass. He glanced at her sideways with a hard emerald glare and then pursed his lips.

            “Fine,” he sighed and started toward his ‘bird. She was surprised that he seemed so willing.

            “Thank you,” she climbed in behind him and he settled into his seat. He spoke to someone she couldn’t see for a moment, then a voice replied, coming from the vertibird. “It speaks?” her brows lifted.

            “Uh, no, that was control, I have to ask permission before just flying off.”

            “Control…” she nibbled on her lip and buckled her belt, her pale gaze flicking out to open door of the ‘bird. A few more soldiers climbed in and Skaddi glanced up when Lancer O’Conner leapt up and settled in the seat beside Glass.

            “Hey there,” she grinned at him and he just kept his eyes on the buttons and levers in front of him. “What’s wrong?” she frowned at him, then looked back and saw Skaddi between two thick knights. A smirk graced her lips and she turned forward. “Ah, got our lancer slayer on board. Better make sure our helmets are secure. Maybe we should get some body armor?”

            Skaddi felt her back stiffen and she balled her hands into fists. She hadn’t grabbed her armor or weapons, she was only in one of Arthur’s black flight suits, but that woman was wearing the same thing –though cream and orange. Juliet was less than half of Skaddi’s size. The fight would be over in a breath.

            “Just shut up, O’Conner,” Glass snapped at her, causing both women to look at him with questioning gazes.

            “Yes, sir,” she frowned and they were quiet.

            The flight was quick and soon as they landed, Skaddi had thrown herself from the ‘bird and was running toward the shore where a cluster of armor wearing soldiers were standing, guns pointed at something she couldn’t see through the sea of orange, cream, black, and red.

            “This what you want?! I’ll rip you in half!”

            Skaddi felt her heart freeze, and then she was shoving people out of the way. When she parted the crowd, her gaze fell on the mass of muscle bound in steel and leather armor. Bare chested, sword wielding, shield bashing, red tattooed, blonde son of Skyrim. Argis. Argis the Bulwark. Skaddi’s Markarth housecarl and closest companion.

            He looked up at her with his good eye –the left one was solid white and blind– and froze, the shield he was holding smacked the small knight in front of him, causing the man to fall hard on his ass. Then Argis dropped it, and the sword in his other hand and came forward.

            “My Thane.”

            “Argis,” she breathed and he grabbed her, hands on her waist, pulling her to him. She grabbed his face, the rough of jaw comforting under her fingers. He bowed his head down and pressed his forehead to hers and she thought she was dreaming. “What’re you doing here?”

            “You went… missing, vanished off the ship. I… did not know what to do,” his voice was low and thick with sadness and shame. She stared into his good eye and he straightened up to give her respectful space. “I tore the ship apart looking for you, my Thane.”

            “The Daedra did this, Boethiah, Sheogorath, and Sanguine, as punishment for not worshiping them,” she explained and he frowned, glaring up at the sky. He was huge. Being here, she’d forgotten what real nord men looked like. He towered over the armorless men, and nearly looked the armored ones in the eye. His bare chest was littered with scars and course blonde hair, and was thick enough to make even Arthur look ‘average’.

            His brown eye fell back on her and then narrowed, looking over what she was wearing. “Ach, my Thane… what is this?” his nose wrinkled and he pinched some fabric on her shoulder. She smirked at him and then glanced around. The soldiers were still staring warily at them, and she realized that they wouldn’t be able to understand him.

            “This land is very different, Argis, we have much to discuss.”

 

 

            “He’ll need a translation necklace,” Skaddi said, looking over at the nord who pushed around the food on his plate. He was trying not to be rude, but he was used to radiation free food of Skyrim. Not to mention he couldn’t understand a soul other than Skaddi, and trying to tell people that ‘they should really look away before he closes their eyes for them’ doesn’t work when they don’t understand. So they moved him to the Elder’s quarters where he could eat in peace.

            “Which means you’ll need more soul gems.”

            “Aye,” she bit her lip. “There’s a quarry. In the north,” she turned back and Maxson was nodding. “I can go with Danse and Reagan –be back in only a few days.”

            Arthur frowned, his gaze landing back on the nord. “I imagine you’ll want him with you.”

            “Of course, he’s my housecarl, and there’s no way for you to communicate anyway,” she folded her arms. Argis was pretending he wasn’t listening, he could only understand her half of the conversation, but he was a smart enough man to get what was being said.

            “He doesn’t know magic?” Arthur lifted a brow.

            “You’re lucky I did, most nords don’t prefer it, Argis is one of them.”

            The Elder frowned and glanced at the clock. It was just before midday. They both knew that the sooner she and her guards left, the better. “Very well,” he straightened up and circled an arm around her waist and pulled her close. “I’ll miss you.”

            She grinned at him and then they both jumped when a chair fell to the ground. Argis was standing with narrowed eyes in a strong scowl, all his muscles tense. “Thane…”

            “It’s all right, Argis,” she lifted a hand and he continued to watch Arthur.

            “I do not like how he holds you, Thane. It is… too familiar,” he glared at the young Elder, the scar on his left cheek crinkling.

            “Argis,” she offered her own glare and placed her hand on Arthur. She was happy he wasn’t trying to add anything, though it could be in part because he didn’t understand what the nord was saying.

            Immediately the housecarl bowed his head and turned his gaze away. “My apologies, my Thane.”

            “We’ll be leaving soon, what gear do you have?” she parted from Arthur, not looking at him as she crossed the room.

            “All of what you have given me, Thane. It was very wise to ask the College to enchant a bag just so,” he complimented and snagged the knapsack off the ground and put it on the table after pushing the bottles and glassed aside with his arm.

            Then he opened the belt and laid it on the table so that its contents started to fall out. She grinned wide at the familiar objects, picking up the alchemic ingredients, books, the ingots she had planned to use on her weapons…. “No soul gems.”

            “No, Thane, you used the last to refuel Frost, remember?”

            “Aye,” she sighed. Frost and Bite… she hadn’t called her axes by name in a long time, no one… cared. Quinlan was the last to hear their titles. She didn’t even think that Arthur knew.

            “What of your armor, Thane?”

            “Oh,” she frowned and glanced down at the black flight suit. Argis had never seen her without armor, not like this where all of her curves were open to him. She felt a flush coming on and cleared her throat. “It was destroyed, I only just had a forge made to start remaking it.”

            He nodded, but frowned, grabbing up his sword –she’d made him the blade to match her axes, in the way of her people, ‘carved nordic’, it was called Splitter. “The men and women here do not arm themselves,” he commented and she smiled.

            “They do, but with different kinds of weapons,” she shifted and touched the wolf pelt that was rolled up in the bag. It was much too full, but that was what the enchantment was for, to allow a small bag to carry an endless amount. The only catch was it did not make the items weightless –it was why Argis carried it rather than her. The charm had been difficult to make, so she only had one, but it came in use now.

            “What armor will you wear now?”

            “It’s called combat armor,” she said and he frowned.

            “Is all armor not for combat?”

            Skaddi nodded and put her hand on his shoulder. “This is a strange land, Argis.”

 

 

            “You keep staring at me like that, buddy, and I’m going to start thinking you’re coming onto me,” Reagan laughed and zipped her flight suit up to her throat. Argis was trying to be polite and not stare at her, but few women in Skyrim were so comfortable showing off their smalls around men without expecting payment.

            Danse was frowning disapprovingly between the Knight and housecarl, but Skaddi cut in before anything could escalade. “We’re going to the north, there’s a quarry there that has soul gems in the bottom. I need them to make a necklace for Argis.”

            The Paladin nodded and Reagan looked him over. “You know… take off the tattoo and he could almost be Grognak…”

            Danse actually grinned at that and shook his head. “Best not tell him that, Knight.”

            Skaddi glanced sideways at her housecarl. MacCready had told her about Grognak, he was a drawing in a picture book, a warrior meant to be like her. She could see the resemblance. “I wish to drop off my supplies to Quinlan so he may use what Argis brought from Skyrim in his research, then I’ll retrieve my weapons from my room and we will leave.”

            “We’ll meet you on the Flight Deck in fifteen then,” Reagan nodded and Skaddi gestured for Argis to follow them. He nodded and did.

            Needless you say, Proctor Quinlan was more than happy to be given all the supplies her housecarl brought from her homeland.

            “Is… this bread?” Quinlan picked it up. The question wasn’t one that needed confirmation, she had learned sometimes people asked things that didn’t need answered.

            “You may eat it, if you wish, I believe I also have apples,” she dug around in the bag and pulled out a red one and green one.

            Quinlan’s eyes widened even more and he gingerly took them. “I… should study them.”

            “You should eat them,” she smiled and he shook his head.

            “That would… be immensely selfish and inappropriate, Dragonborn.”

            “I have plenty,” she promised and opened the bag more and poured all the contents onto his table. He gaped at the amount, and she explained the enchantment on the bag.

            “I… may I study the knapsack as well?”

            “Aye,” she smiled and pushed it toward him. “When I get a necklace for Argis, you may speak with him as well.”

            “You are a true blessing, Dragonborn.”

            She grinned at him and nodded. “I will return once I have the soul gems I require.”

            “Safe travels, to Victory, Dragonborn.”

            “Aye, Proctor,” she gave him a salute which he smiled wider at.

            It was a short walk back to her quarters, and when she opened the door she planned to simply grab her weapons and combat armor and leave, but she froze, a large, dark form lying on her bed.

            “Sanguine.”

            “ _Dovahkiin_ ,” he grinned and rolled off the bed with a surprising ease, his armor landed heavily though. She closed the door and met his eyes. “Did you like my little… reward?”

            “Why would you bring Argis here?”

            “Oh come now,” he turned his face down and smirked. “Do you want me to send him back?” She opened her mouth to say she wanted him to send them both home, but… she didn’t. “That’s what I thought,” he straightened up and crossed his arms.

            “What now then?” she frowned.

            “Well, little Dragonborn, you have to find out what you really want before I can help you,” he chuckled darkly and it shook Skaddi’s spine. “The more I watch you, the more you seem to enjoy this world. You’re lucky Boethiah is distracted.”

            “What? How?”

            “Someone’s claimed your title, and broken into your home,” he shrugged and she gaped at him. “They stole much from you, including the Ebonymail you were gifted, and my rose,” he glanced down at her with his void eyes. “Ah… that Wabbajack,” he waved a hand dismissively.

            “How can you speak of this as if it were as calm as the weather?” she barked and he shook his head.

            “ _Dovahkiin_ , you lost your right to the title of Daedric Champion when you hung our trophies on the wall,” he brushed a strand of hair from her face and she glared at him.

            “Then why are you here?”

            “It sickens me to see _another_ champion bend to more than one of us. I _don’t_ enjoy sharing, despite what you may think,” he chuckled again and her lips turned down farther. “Besides, he would favor Boethiah, and she sickens me.”

            “So… I am still your champion?”

            “Aye, as long as you continue to worship me. That Elder boy surprises me,” he smirked. “Continue on with him, it pleases me. Maybe… experiement, little _Dovahkiin_ ,” he held her chin and let his gloved thumb brush her lip, “You may find you enjoy it as much as I do.”

            She swallowed hard and looked away from him. “I will continue to worship you, as long as you do not request I bed another man.”

            “Good,” he nodded and stepped to the side, “A gift then, for my champion. Wear it well, young Dragonborn.”

            Her pale eyes passed him to settle on the mannequin standing in the corner dressed in full daedric armor. Her heart stopped and she stepped forward, looking at it carefully. It had a faint mist drifting around it, and looked as though it were custom crafted. “It’s…”

            “It will fit you perfectly, little _Dovahkiin_. Wear it and strike fear into these mortals. What is to come… will hurt you passed what this armor can protect you from.”

            His voice sounded… sad. Skaddi spun around to ask him what he meant, what was going to happen, but a portal opened around him, the sound vibrating the air, and took him from her without another word.


	20. How Far I'll Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The armor that Sanguine has given her is far more than 'useful' and for once, everything seems to be going just right for Skaddi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How Far I'll Go ~Moana

            Daedric armor was enough to get you stared at in Skyrim, but in the Commonwealth… it did more. People gaped. Eyes the size of saucers, mouths hanging as low as they could fall, objects dropped to the ground as their hands go limp in pure shock.

            Even Argis was surprised to see her descend the steps to the Flight Deck donned in the crimson and obsidian armor of the very daedra that sent them here against their wills. Reagan and Danse were in their new suits of power armor, so she couldn’t see their faces, but based on the movement of their helmets, they were staring.

            “Where the hell did you get that?” Reagan’s voice came out distorted by her helmet and the Paladin turned to her, but said nothing and then looked back at the Dragonborn. He was obviously wondering the same thing.

            “Sanguine gifted it to me, as… incentive to keep worshiping him. Argis was also a reward.”

            The nord tilted his head up to look at the steel soldiers behind him, and then looked back at her. “Never before have I appeared the weakest,” he breathed and Skaddi smiled behind her helmet.

            “Come, we must leave for the quarry.”

            The Paladin nodded and started for the vertibird. Skaddi climbed in last, behind Argis and helped him buckle his belts before she did her own. She couldn’t get them over the shoulder spikes, and ended up with just the belt over her lap.

            Lancer-Sergeant Glass leapt into the ‘bird and then froze, looking at her. His brows drew together. “Shit, well, that’s something you don’t see every day.” Then he climbed easily into his seat and pulled his helmet on. A few moments later, Juliet was mounting the ‘bird, looking tired until she saw the pile of Daedric armor in front of her.

            “Fuck me, should have read the orders,” she grunted and rolled her eyes, pulling the elastic band from her wrist to tie her hair up as she stepped onto her seat.

            “Hey, boots off the leather,” Glass snapped and swatted her calf with a hard flick of his hand. She hissed and growled at him.

            “Christ, Michael–”

            “I think you meant to say, ‘I’m sorry, sir’,” Danse said from where his power armor was locked into place. Reagan sniggered and even Skaddi smiled.

            “I’m sorry… sir,” O’Conner breathed through gritted teeth and got settled in. Neither Lancer spoke to each other again for a moment and Glass turned around in his seat and beckoned Skaddi forward as he stretched back.

            “Come here, I’m putting a com in your helmet,” he slipped his thin fingers up beside her throat and she felt how cold his hands were. “Jeeze, this is tight,” he frowned and then got the device where he wanted it –right in her ear.

            “Ow,” she snapped and turned her head, it twisted his hand and he sucked in a breath.

            “Whoa, stop moving before you break my wrist.” Then he withdrew his hand and slid back into his seat. “Radio check. Sound off. O’Conner.”

            “Roger.”

            “Danse.”

            “Roger.”

            “Knight.”

            “Roger.”

            “Ice-Hunter.”

            She was shocked at how clear their voices were right in her ear. It made her shudder each time someone said something, and it took her a moment to clear her throat and say, “Uh, Roger.”

            “Grognak?”

            “He’s secured,” Reagan answered as she was closer to him, standing by the door that had a minigun sitting at it. Danse was locked in to Skaddi’s right, at that door, and Argis was strapped in beside her on her left, with Reagan on his left.

            “All right, good to go. Asking for clearance, control.”

            There was a pause, and then the vertibird started to shake, coming to life like a resurrected dragon crawling out of the earth. Then they dropped and Argis yelped in surprise, making everyone, even Skaddi laugh.

 

 

            It turns out that the man that Skaddi and Rhys helped drain the quarry was a bandit. He turned the quarry into a massive camp with rings of mudcrabs locked up, and ready to be pinned against each other or someone captured and caged with them. As they flew overhead they were fired upon, and Danse and Reagan were quick to unlock themselves and fall from the ‘bird, obviously happy that they had power armor again.

            Skaddi watched as Glass tipped the ‘bird –frightening Argis some as he leaned toward the open door, but his belts held him in place– so she could see the Knight and Paladin hit the ground and send quakes out enough to kill anyone close to them and instill fear in those stupid enough to continue to attack. Skaddi didn’t want to leave Argis, so she kept locked in place until Glass and O’Conner were able to find a place to safely land. Then she unbuckled herself and Argis. He followed close behind her as they leapt out of the ‘bird and hit the ground running, blades lifted and ready.

            What Skaddi didn’t expect was for the bullets hitting her armor to be absorbed into it and cause the mist around it to grow thicker into a smoke that turned lead grey. She was distracted by the sudden fog in her vision, so she didn’t see the man running up at her with a bent piece of metal. When he hit her, the strike barely made it passed her armor, bounding off, but the cloud around her wrapped around the iron and then followed it up his arm and over took him. She watched him bend and fall to his knees.

            Her head tilted and she glanced over at Argis who was holding his shield up against the barrage of bullets. Skaddi’s healing spell replaced her left axe, and she followed up beside him, casting it on him as they strode forward, toward the path that lead down in a spiral to the bottom of the quarry.

            The damage that she took seemed to only make her armor smoke more and more until someone got too close and then the cloud would over take them, drowning them in the thick haze. A damage shield that got more powerful each time it was hit. Her lips curled into a smile, it was perfect, just what she needed here.

            By the time that Skaddi and Argis got to the bottom Reagan and Danse had driven the bandits toward the exit, which meant they were caught between two power armor wearing Brotherhood soldiers and two Children of Skyrim.

            The bandits didn’t stand a chance.

            “Looks as though they were digging,” Reagan commented and stomped over to the hole.

            “We’ll get some people up here to look after the deposite, we don’t want this getting into the wrong hands,” Danse said and Skaddi nodded, looking over the ledge and then smile. She could see the glint of soul gems.

            “Argis?” she looked over at him and he nodded, putting his sword and shield on his back before climbing down the ladder into the pit.

            When he came back he had several sizeable gems and offered them to her. She looked them over and grinned.

            “They’re still in tact, I can use these,” she nodded and then Reagan stepped forward and pulled the long green back off of her arm’s back and placed it on the ground beside her to allow her to put the gems in it.

            The whole trip had been so… easy. Skaddi looked over the soldiers and saw how the suits stood closer to each other now, but didn’t otherwise act different; neither of them had taken a significant amount of damage, and even Argis had been spared injury with her spell forcing out anything that got passed his shield.

            A smile graced her lips and she turned her face up to the sky and whispered, “Thank you, Sanguine.”

 

 

            Skaddi hit the bed with a bounce and smiled up at the Elder as he shoved his flight suit down enough to draw his legs out of it. Arthur came onto her, finding her lips and kissing them hard, teeth latching on as he pulled away to give her a tug. Her body begged for his burning touch, and he was more than happy to deliver.

            Then Maxson reached under her and flipped her over onto her hands and knees. Landing with another bounce, she was immediately pushed forward and her face met the scratchy blanket. Skaddi pressed back against him as she felt his stiff press between her cheeks and his balls against her heat. A growl rolled out of him as he bent down over her and engulfed her in his own fire.

            With a roll of his hips he was pressing against her folds and then sinking in, parting her quickly. His hands reached around her front and cupped her breasts, grabbing hold of them both and holding them flush against her ribs. Now he used this hold to pull her up from the bed and she steadied them with her hands planted firmly in front of her.

            Arthur pounded into her with a relentless rhythm that had her gasping and throwing her head around, trying to get her hair off her neck to cool down her burning skin. Already they were both laced with a sheen of sweat that slicked them up at each point of contact.

            His hands squeezed and she gasped, clamping down around him. He shifted his legs around to get a better angle and harder thrusts. They were driving her to a sweet end, the coils in her stomach writhing like snakes ready to burst out at any moment. She arched her back and lifted her face. He rewarded her with pressing his forehead into her temple and growling her name over and over in her ear.

            He had taken her necklace off, so without it she could only understand her name in the mix of words that fell from his lips. It only heightened her pleasure, though, because she knew what he was saying –she was saying the same thing.

            “I love you.”

            Love didn’t have to be tender, slow and sweet. It could be rough and wild just like this, and she found herself enjoying it more and more with each of his numbing thrusts. He was an animal and this was natural to him. All she had to do was relax and follow his lead.

            “I love you.”

            Like nothing she’d imagined before, she and Arthur’s lovemaking would probably be taboo, something you’d see in a whorehouse, not a wedding bed. She didn’t care. This was worshiping Sanguine, and it was just how she loved to be touched. It made her feel less… naughty, and more free…

            “I love you.”

            Arthur moved his arms, crossing her chest and then reached under her legs. In a quick motion he’d turned them over onto his back with her lying on his chest, facing away from him. Her breath left her and she looked around to see him adjust himself, holding her legs behind the knees and up close to her chest while his other hand guided his dripping member to her core. She planted her hands on either side of them, stabilizing herself as he anchored his heels in the bed and gave her a hard thrust.

            Skaddi’s breathing was terribly uneven, harsh pants that were nearly double his pace –which seemed to keep picking up. His balls beat against her clit with each pound, the sweet sting and sound of the slap driving her higher and higher until those snakes coiling within her tightened into a hard knot and burst.

            She cried out his name and arched back against his chest, her face pressing into the pillow beside him. Arthur brushed her hair over her other shoulder so he could see her. Then he turned his face and kissed her hard in the cheek, nipped at her jaw, let his beard scratch at her throat and shoulder as he growled words she couldn’t understand.

            “I love you.”

            His free hand slipped down between her legs, he held them close together, her powerful thighs almost kept his fingers out, but they dug passed the muscle to find her over sensitive nub and started to rub it aggressively. She wasn’t even done with her first orgasm, and he was building up another one with rough fingers and rhythmic thrusts.

            She cried out his name and gripped the blanket tightly, her spine bending, pressing her deeper into him. Arthur slammed up into her and held himself there, his feet pushing down into the bed enough to lift his own rear off the blanket.

            He filled her to the point of overflowing, and left a beautiful mark on her neck as he did so.

            When he relaxed and slid out she sighed in satisfaction and sadness. He rolled them onto their sides and then she shifted around to face him. She smiled and touched his lips with light fingers. She would have to try pleasing him with her mouth as he had her.

            He whispered three little words and she knew just what they were, the same words they’d been repeating over and over with their names.

            “I love you.”

            She lifted her spell and rested her hand on his side, allowing them to speak.

            “How was that as a reward for a successful mission?”

            “More than sufficient,” she smiled and he leaned in, kissing her face over and over until she giggled. “Arthur…”

            “Your accent is stronger without the translator, I like how it sounds when you say my name.”

            She dropped her spell and smiled at him, “Arthur.”

            He growled and pulled her closer.

            “Arthur…”

            He shook his head and then dove down for her throat, sucking more marks into her skin, his teeth leaving sweet impressions.

            “Arthur…!”

 

 

            Skaddi tried not to stumble as she walked across the space to her quarters from Arthur’s room. The power armor on duty was watching her, but she paid them no mind and opened her door to check on Argis. He was asleep on the bed and she smiled at him, giving him a nod before closing the door quietly.

            When she turned back around she heard a couple of people climbing the ladder from the Command Deck. She paused in front of Maxson’s chambers with her hand in her hair, brushing out the just-fucked volume that the Elder had given her. To her surprise, it was Nate and MacCready who were speaking lowly to each other, neither seeming to notice her as they were looking at each other and immediately turned to go down the hall toward’s the medbay and Quinlan’s office.

            “… he’s still my son, Mac.”

            “Yeah… but… only by blood, Nate…”

            “I’m not leaving him again. I have to talk to him, get him to trust me, so far all he’s going off of is blind hope, and that won’t last long.”

            “I… just have a bad feeling about this.”

            “It’ll be fine. You’re with me, right?”

            MacCready sighed and shrugged, “You point, I shoot, that was the deal, wasn’t it?”

            “Great, now I just have to give this holotape to Quinlan…”

            Skaddi couldn’t hear them anymore and frowned, wondering about Nate’s son, and then heard the clink of glasses and liquid being poured. She could worry about it in the morning, for now, she wanted to spend some more sleepless hours with Arthur –the potion of everlasting stamina from Skyrim hadn’t worn off just yet….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because I'm so easily influenced by what I read, and I've been reading the awesome work of ElderArthurMaxson, my smut contains severe... references isn't the right word, but if you read their work and mine then you can totes see it xD  
> I do come up with the actual scenes myself, I just love the descriptions and try to use them best I can without copying.


	21. Nobody Else But You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another mission with the team, but this one goes down a little differently...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nobody Else But You ~A Goofy Movie

            “He’s called Liberty Prime,” Proctor Ingram was explaining, but Skaddi only saw a bunch of pieces of metal that vaguely reminded her of dwemer centurion parts. “He’s just what we need to get into the Institute.”

            Nate nodded and grinned, “I heard about him, before the war, they never got him up to Alaska…. Maybe that’s a good thing for us, huh?”

            Skaddi didn’t like how… good of a mood Nate was in. He was all smiles, even grabbing her around the shoulders –best he could because he was thinner and slightly shorter than MacCready– and talking to her as if they were friends.

            “We still need some pieces, though, and I was hoping you two could help.”

            “Anything you need, Proctor,” Skaddi dipped her head.

            Ingram turned to Nate, “It would have been real helpful had you been able to get Madison Li…”

            “I… she…” Nate’s smile faltered and he flushed.

            “There’s another scientist we could use the aid of, she’s in Diamond City, once we get Skaddi sent out after the parts we need, I’ll brief you on her.”

            “Of course.”

            The information was then given to Paladin Danse, rather than Skaddi, as he was in command of their little squad and actually knew what the Proctor was talking about. They would be flown out to a ‘hospital’, take out whatever was hostile there, and locate a high-powered magnet, probably in a thing called ‘MRI’? She was thoroughly lost, but Reagan and Danse nodded their understanding.

            An arcane enchanter was being made while they left, she hoped to return to it being completed so she could give Argis a translation necklace. He seemed very uncomfortable here, worse than she had been upon first arrival.

            Now he was examining a suit of power armor on duty, watching how it moved. When she asked him what he was doing, he simply said ‘looking for the weaknesses in the armor, appears the joints are one’s best bet’.

            She loved that nord.

     

 

            Super mutants. Everywhere.

            Bandits were one thing, one could use a hint of psychological warfare against them, but the mutants were almost immune to it, acting more like animals. Argis was more than happy to run up to the dwarf giants and take them down, seeing as they weren’t as intimidating as the white skinned, full giants they had in Skyrim. And Danse seemed to nearly loose some of his composure when it came to taking the greenskins down.

            When they went inside, one of them had a weapon that immediately made Danse and Reagan throw Argis and Skaddi away and buckle down. The blast was huge, and bright, washing Skaddi and Argis in a wave of radiation. She felt sick, and quickly went to the soldiers to find them alive.

            “Depleted my suits core, sir,” Reagan informed the Paladin. “Nuke took out the spares in our bag…”

            “I have 50%, we need to make this quick. Why was your core not at full charge, Knight?”

            Reagan stepped out of her suit and frowned at it. “I’ve been a little short on caps because of being in the medbay, sir,” she flushed some, then added, “I almost wish it would let me take more damage and save the damn core.”

            “You’re alive, that’s what matters,” Danse sighed and stepped closer to her and his power armored hand gently rested on her shoulder. She touched it and looked up at him.

            Skaddi almost giggled in happiness, but swallowed it down and grabbed Ice from her back. “Argis and I will take out the greenskins, you two find the magnet.”

            “Affirmative.”

            The daedric armor she had was too good. It really was. Skaddi could feel each piece had different attributes. The breastplate had the damage shield, while the helmet slowed time when more than two opponents were close enough to over take her, the boots made her invisible when kneeling in a stealth crouch, and her gauntlets… she wasn’t sure yet.

            Skaddi was dripping with blood and shaking it off of her great sword when she and Argis joined Danse and Reagan at the third floor of the hospital. Knight was kneeling in front of the door with a small, thin thing in her hand -some sort of lockpick- as she twisted and turned the lock. As she did it, she shifted her weight, turning her hips this way and that. Skaddi glanced up to see the Paladin’s helmet as well as Argis’s good eye were locked on the movement.

            She smiled and shook her head.

            “Ah, got it,” Reagan grinned and then opened the door, bouncing up and turning a bright smile on them.

            “That’s not a skill they teach in boot camp,” Danse said and she shrugged.

            “I break into Merrin’s shampoo stash. I’m not going to pay for that flowery smelling shit when she’s got so much she won’t notice some missing,” she smirked.

            The suit tilted its helmet slightly and Reagan flipped imaginary hair over her shoulder as her hair had been tied up in a bun and she was wearing her uniform’s hood –as you were required when operating power armor– but normally she took it off, Skaddi wondered why she hadn’t removed it yet.

            They found the room where the magnet was most likely to be found. No super mutants made it passed the locked door, so it was just how it had been before the war. Which surprised Skaddi, she thought it would be… so much more different, but it was just a little cleaner. The fallout outside had still seeped in, but there was just a noticeable void of trash. Small holes in the wall had let in the weather, and over the 200 years since the destruction of the world, the space had been thrown into disarray and covered in dust and grime.

            “Found it!” Reagan ripped the metal out of a massive machine and turned to the power armor behind her. “Sir.”

            Danse took it and looked it over. “Outstanding. Time to move out, come on people.”

            “Thane?”

            Skaddi paused while Reagan and Danse continued back to the front of the building. “What is it, Argis?”

            “That Elder fellow, you and he share chambers,” he said carefully, trying not to imply anything, but they both knew what happened when a man and woman shared quarters at night.

            “Arthur and I are together, Argis,” she said and he nodded looking at her boots.

            “I wish to speak with him when I have the ability.”

            “Of course,” she smiled and rested a heavy gauntlet on his shoulder. He tilted his head to look down at her and sighed.

            “You had to leave your world to find a man you can love?”

            “I love you, Argis, but you are my friend, best friend,” she said quietly and he nodded.

            “It is an honor, my Thane.”

            “Perhaps you will find a woman here, yes? Someone like Reagan?”

            Argis’s cheeks caught fire and he cleared his throat. “I’ve yet seen a woman like the Lady Reagan.”

            “‘Lady’…” the Dragonborn wanted to laugh. “You will have to get through the Paladin if you want her, I’m afraid you were too late on arriving here to claim her.”

            He nodded and then turned his good brown eye over to her, “It appears I have such luck.”

            She frowned at that and felt a sting in her heart. What would have happened if she would not have come to this place? Vilkas and Argis were the only two men she considered for marriage, and how very different they were. Vilkas pushed her limits, made her stronger and let her work on her own when he knew she could handle it. He also would not treat her any better than she earned, no matter the titles she had before coming to the Companions. He had been… hard to get along with, but when she cured him of his beast blood –brought him back to humanity after being a werewolf for so long– he had looked at her with the utmost affection.

            And Argis… Argis was sworn to her, to watch her back, something he did perfectly, learning to adapt to her fighting styles when she changed weapons. He was there for her from the beginning, worked her through hardship, stood back when she needed space, and was there to hold her when she needed to cry. He was strong, and silent, and there, but he was also tender, and told her what she needed to hear –even if she didn’t want to– and only ever left her side when she demanded it.

            If she would not have had them both either would have been an easy decision. It was complicated with them both, though, and she could not decide between them.

            Now there was Arthur.

            She could not –and did not want to– take back what they’d done, to set him beside Argis and Vilkas. She loved Arthur and he loved her, and what was between them was far more than she ever imagined with the nord men. He was so different from them, as well. Younger than them –Vilkas coming near his thirtieth year, and Argis having celebrated that name day a couple of years past– but commanded more authority than either put together. Physically, Arthur was about the same size as Vilkas, from what she remembered, but Argis was taller. Maxson also sported a nord-like beard that neither of her other suitors favored, as Vilkas shaved close, leaving a rough, sandy jaw, and Argis only kept a close trim around his mouth. Her housecarl was one nord extreme, barrel chest, strong, blonde, brown eyed, and favored the light armor with a sword and shield. The Companion was more lean –but still massive– dark, nearly black haired, blue eyes –once cured of the silver wolf’s gaze– and favored heavy armor with two hands on his Skyforged steel greatsword.

            Skaddi had yet to see Arthur in combat, she wondered what he preferred. His battlecoat was heavy, she could see it when he lifted it from his shoulders and hung it up, but the uniform under it was tight and light. He would favor guns, like every other man or woman in the Commonwealth, but what kind?

            Paladin Danse was locking his power armor in the vertibird when Skaddi came back from her thoughts. Reagan removed the yellow object from his back and his suit went limp. Then the knight ran back inside, returning a moment later with her suit.

            Glass was starting up the bird, and O’Conner turned in her seat to look at Skaddi, then frowned. “Hey, you need to be fully secured.”

            “They will not fit,” she replied, slightly annoyed that the lancer only just now noticed she’d been riding without the shoulder belts.

            “Fully secured means all belts,” she climbed back while Reagan locked into place.

            “You’re welcome to try,” Skaddi said and sat still while Juliet tried to pull the belts over the massive spikes.

            “What’re these even good for? It’s just useless and showing off.”

            “It is the style of the daedra.”

            “Yeah, whatever, you need to take it off.”

            “I will not.”

            “We aren’t leaving until you’re fully secured, Dragonborn.”

            Skaddi’s jaw tightened. She hated when people said it like that, it was… so disrespectful. “I’ve done fine so far, just continue on as we were.”

            “You want us to get in trouble for you falling out of the ‘bird because you wouldn’t put your belts on?” her green eyes narrowed and Skaddi shrugged.

            “Why would I fall out?”

            O’Conner stood and glared down at her, “Maybe I threw that soap a little too hard, huh? Knocked something loose in your head.”

            “That’s funny, O’Conner, I thought you told Elder that you had no idea what they were accusing you of?” Reagan’s voice came from her suit, her helmet tilted their way.

            Juliet’s face twisted and she glared at the Knight. “I’ve been punished, I can’t be tried for the same crime twice, so it doesn’t matter.” Then the lancer turned her attention back to Skaddi. “Still waiting for you to get punished for killing those Lancers.”

            “Lancer O’Conner, get back to you chair, now,” Glass turned back to look at her and glared so heavily Skaddi almost shuddered.

            “Yes, sir.”

            The vertibird flight was quiet, and Skaddi busied herself with watching Paladin Danse’s armor shift with the bird rather than standing straight like Reagan’s. Power armor was a strange thing, it seemed… unwise, to her to have such reliance on armor that could fail you. Of course, when it was working, it seemed to be the best option for armor.

            They docked close to nightfall on the Prydwen. It had taken them the whole day from that morning with Ingram to now. Skaddi could feel it wearing on her, the heavy armor making her more sluggish.

            A Deck Scribe came running up and jumped into the 'bird with one of those yellow things and quickly stuck it in Paladin Danse’s armor. His suit came to life, straightening up and he unlocked himself from the ‘bird. But when he stepped out, he waited beside the vertibird.

            Regan paused and looked back at him, “Sir?”

            Skaddi and Argis stopped and glanced back also. Glass jumped out of the ‘bird and then looked up at the Paladin with a lifted brow. “Something I can do for you, Danse?”

            “I just need your co-pilot, Glass.”

            Michael’s clean-shaven jaw flexed and he nodded once, “She’s been getting away with too much. It’s about time she slipped up,” then he saluted the suit and started walking up the dock toward Skaddi and her guards. The Dragonborn was confused and watched him climb the stairs to go to the Command Deck, taking them two at a time.

            Juliet O’Conner stepped down from the Primair slowly, green eyes narrowed as she looked between Skaddi and Danse. “Is there something you forgot, Paladin?”

            “I’m here to escort you directly to Elder Maxson, Lancer O’Conner.”

            “Wh-what? Why?” her brows jerked together and she stepped back from him.

            “You may not be able to be charged again for assaulting a civilian, but you can be for lying directly to Elder Maxson.”

            All the color in her face drained and she gaped at him. “You… you can’t…”

            “Your word against Ice-Hunters might favor you, but your word against a Paldin, Knight, and Lancer-Sergeant –should we need it– will not look favorably on you. I suggest you come willingly and quietly and beg he is in a good mood, Lancer.”

            Juliet shook her head in disbelief. “I-I, Danse, you can’t! She’s just some–”

            “You are insubordinate, and have been given too much leeway, come with me now, or I will remove you by force. And I don’t think you want that, O’Conner.”

            She swallowed and then bowed her head, her red hair falling into her face. Danse grabbed her thin arm and started pulling her toward the stairs.

            “And I suggest you get that hair off your collar, Lancer. Otherwise that’s another mark against you.”

            Skaddi smiled behind her helmet. Today had been a good day –filled with blood, fighting, and a successful mission–, and now she knew she wouldn’t have to deal with Lancer O’Conner’s comments and harassments.

            “Hah, ‘bout time that bitch got what she deserves,” Reagan huffed and then turned her helmet down toward Skaddi. “I’m gonna go report in, you should probably go with them, watch her get demoted. Hope she gets a dishonorable discharge,” the Knight added and started walking away.

            Argis turned to Skaddi. “What happened?”

            “Someone messed up.”

 

 

            Arthur gave nothing away as he stood with his back to O’Conner. At her side Danse was standing, still dressed in his power armor. Skaddi kept close to the side, standing beside Argis who was sitting in one of the couches. Lancer-Captain Kells walked in, passing Juliet with his brisk pace.

            “Sir, I–”

            “Zip it, O’Conner.”

            The Lancer whimpered and bowed her head, tears falling down her cheeks. The Dragonborn removed her helmet and held it under her arm, watching carefully, quietly. Juliet didn’t look up from the stop she was staring at on the floor. Danse’s armor gave a gentle creak as he shifted his weight and then pressed his knuckles into his hands to crack the joints. She noticed it was something he often did while standing idle.

            “Lancer Juliet O’Conner.”

            Maxson’s voice was low, thick, and terrifying. Skaddi had yet to hear it like this. He was angry, worse than that, he was the definition of pissed.

            “Sir.”

            “Paladin Danse informs me that you openly admitted today while on your mission, to having struck Ice-Hunter with soap.” Juliet gulped. “Something you ‘respectfully denied’ when questioned about before. You used your impeccable record as proof that you would not jeopardize your position. Am I remembering this incorrectly, O’Conner?” He turned around to face her, standing a few feet in front of her, his hands behind his back.

            “No, sir.”

            “Which means you lied, not only to your commander, but to me, your Elder.” She swallowed hard, eyes still down cast. “Is the floor more interesting than I am, O’Conner? Or are you bored and your eyes heavy?” his hands fell from behind his back and his fingers flexed in anger.

            She snapped her face up and swallowed hard, tears smearing her makeup down her cheeks. “No, sir.”

            “Elder, O’Conner, address him with the respect you’ve been denying him,” Kells growled, his nose wrinkled.

            “No, Elder, the floor is not interesting.”

            “Then look at me when I speak to you.”

            “Yes, Elder.”

            “Do you freely admit to having bared false witness against Ice-Hunter, directly to me?” She closed her eyes, pushing more tears onto her cheeks. Her teeth caught her lip and she nodded. “Verbalize, Lancer.”

            “Yes, Elder.”

            “Yes, Elder, what?”

            “Yes, Elder. I freely admit to having bared false witness against Ice-Hunter, directly to you,” she choked out and a sob cracked her words.

            Skaddi didn’t feel the least bit of empathy to her, and could see that no man in the room did either.

            “I should have you discharged,” Maxson’s jaw was flexing under his beard. Juliet’s breathing was coming in swift, shallow pants. For a brief second, the Skaal woman was worried the Lancer might collapse. “But I can’t afford that right now. So I’ll settle for demoting you.”

            “Th-thank you, Elder.”

            “Your new rank is Squire, O’Conner, where it with pride,” he said bitterly and Juliet gaped at him. Even Kells looked surprise and Danse shifted uncomfortable.

            “But… that’s a child’s rank…”

            “It appears you have to go back to the beginning and learn how we do things around here, O’Conner. I suggest you thank me and whatever higher power you believe in and leave my presence. You’re dismissed, Squire.”

            “Y-yes, sir…. Thank you, Elder…” Juliet turned around, sniffled, and left the Command Deck.

            Kells let out a long breath and relaxed his shoulders. “I cannot apologize enough for her, Maxson.”

            “It’s fine, Kells, you cannot control all of their actions,” Arthur turned to Skaddi, his gaze softening some. “Danse, thank you for bringing her to me.”

            “Of course, sir.”

            “Take a couple of days, Knight as well, Ice-Hunter won’t be going anywhere until we get Liberty Prime up and moving, you two deserve some R&R that’s not sitting in Cade’s medbay.”

            “That isn’t necessary, Elder.”

            “Don’t make me order it, Danse.”

            “Of course, Maxson, I’ll inform Knight.”

            The power armor turned and started off toward the ladder. Kells dipped his head to the young Elder, and then took his leave as well.

            Skaddi stepped up to Maxson and he tilted his head at her armor, giving her a faint smile that barely curled his lips. “It suits you well.”

            “You should have seen the armor I crafted for myself,” she smiled and he nodded.

            “Maybe some day.”

            “Shall we retire to your quarters?”

            “If that is what you wish.” He glanced passed her at Argis who was tossing a dagger into the air, catching it, and then tossing it again. “Your enchanter will be finished in the morning.”

            “Perfect,” she smiled widely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I resisted the call to write smut this time, but I have a feeling the next chapter will start with it at the very least, so don't worry. I know you guys are only here for the sex xD /cough/


	22. I'll Make a Man Out of You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SMUT! Because I promised it! Arthur's all, let's do this... /two seconds later/ you know what? Never mind, let's do this... xD  
> Argis Challenges Arthur to a drinking competition! Woot!  
> OH AND THERE'S SOME PLOT! Right there in the middle, snuck that in there between the smut and fun xD

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll Make a Man Out of You ~Mulan

            Skaddi woke to her legs being urged apart. She was naked, and the only person that dared touch her like this was Arthur, so she resisted opening her eyes. His hands were large, hot, and slid from her foot, up her calf to her thigh, then in between to the soft, sensitive flesh there. A soft whimper left her when he skipped right over her core to start running up her muscled stomach to cup her breast.

            “Mmm, Arthur…?” she whispered and he bit her thigh making her yelp in surprise. His beard scratched at her sensitive skin causing her to giggle.

            “Good morning,” his voice was breathy and hot against her. Skaddi opened her legs more and shimmied down closer to him, whimpering, but he moved back as well.

            “Oh,” she sighed, and opened her eyes to glare at him in the darkness. She couldn’t see but a black on black outline. “Arthur, please…”

            He bit her thigh again and she moaned, reaching down to try to grab a fist full of his hair and pull him to her. Either he saw her coming, or he felt her shift, because he retreated back to her knee and kissed the side, nipping it lightly.

            “Arthur, stop toying…” she complained in a whimper and inched toward him again, her head coming off of his pillow now. He chuckled in the darkness and slid his arms under her legs so they rested on his shoulders. Then he pressed lingering kisses into her thighs, treating both sides equally before moving up. “Arthur…” her voice was a pathetic whimper.

            Her body was begging for him louder than she was, and she knew he could see it. She was wiggling below him, her back arching as she tried to push into him, but he held her hips still. Her stomach was already tightening and she felt those serpents waking up, knotting together, and writhing about.

            He hadn’t even gotten to her core yet. She could barely feel his breath on the slick that was leaking out as he held her still and kissed each thigh, slowly, and purposefully. He knew just what he was doing to her.

            “Why? Why are you doing this?”

            “Testing it out,” he smiled, talking so that his breath washed over her, caught by the drip of her lower lips. She shuddered and he chuckled. “It seems you like it.”

            “I would like it more if you would touch me…”

            “I am touching you,” he squeezed her hips, giving her a delicious pressure she hoped left little marks.

            “No… touch me here,” she rolled her hips and felt his nose brush the hair down there.

            He laughed and tilted his head into her left leg. “So impatient.”

            “Always,” she huffed and tried to use her legs around him to pull him closer.

            “Very well,” he smiled and then lunged forward, his mouth catching her clit and made her gasp and arch her back in surprise and pleasure. Then Maxson grabbed her tight and sat up, pulling her as up with him.

            “Oh–Arthur!” her breath left her in surprise and she clung to him with her legs tight on either side of his head while he lapped at the dripping slick and sucked her folds into his mouth, massaging them with his tongue.

            One of his hands snaked down to grab her breast and she hand to support herself with her hands on either side of her, preventing her from touching him. But how good it felt.

            She keep her eyes squeezed shut –not that opening them would allow her to see anything– and focused on the feeling of those snakes writhing in her belly and the burn of his hands on her. He flicked her clit and mouthed it with his lips, allowing his beard to scratch at her and make her shake with a laugh.

            She bucked against him and he growled into her, holding her tighter, and leaned back, dragging her across the bed to him more. Now she was lying against his stomach, and could feel his stiff press into her spine between her shoulder blades.

            When his fingers dove in and found her sweet spot, she came undone, shuttering as the serpents burst away from each other and made her cry out his name. He chuckled and drank her in, lapping at the juices that she gave him.

            “Got me good on that one,” he breathed against her and sucked her sensitive lips into his mouth to clean her.

            “Wh-what?” she looked up at him in the darkness and he kissed her thigh.

            “Didn’t know I could make you do that.”

            “What did I do?” she felt embarrassed because she was pretty sure she had an idea. She might have been a stranger to sex, but she’d heard others talk about it, mostly men in the army. Making women squirt their pleasure was a feat not all could claim, but it seemed something laughable.

            “Don’t be shy,” he whispered and lowered her from his shoulders. Then he grabbed the blanket and wiped his face before bending down and kissing his way up to her face. “I liked it.”

            She flushed and he kissed her from lips to cheek, up to her squinted eyes, then into her messy hair and then down to her ear and throat.

            “Would you like me to keep going?” he breathed against her collarbone and grazed his teeth over it.

            “Yes,” she whispered and he moved his hands to her hips.

            “Do you want to be on top?” he asked and she felt her heart pick up.

            “I’m not sure…”

            He hummed into her neck, “We can try it –you don’t have to keep it up if you don’t want to.”

            “Okay,” she whispered and he gave her a kiss before leaving the bed to turn on a lamp. It didn’t illuminate the room brightly, but it was enough she could actually see him now, though it wasn’t very well.

            Arthur settled onto his back and Skaddi climbed onto him. Her hands rested on his chest and she say just below his navel with his stiff pressing against her cheeks. She swallowed and he smiled up at her comforting.

            “Take your time,” he reached up and brushed her hair from her eyes and she kissed his palm, pressing her face into his hand.

            Shifting, she tucked her legs under her and lifted so she could reach between her legs and grasp his length. Maxson let out a slow breath and watched her as she tipped back and got comfortable on her toes before rubbing the head against her dripping lips. She started to lower onto him, and then lifted back up, drawing out a hiss from him.

            “Oh, really?”

            She grinned and started to lower onto him again. His hands came up to hold her hips and she knew he was going to pull her down so she swatted them away. “No touch,” she chided with a smile and he narrowed his eyes at her, but his lips remained curled upward.

            Then he decided he would buck his hips upward. She lifted up with him to keep him out and he shook his head. “This was a bad idea,” he breathed and she giggled, lowering onto so that he groaned. “Ah… Skaddi…”

            Then she lifted back up and gently held him up so she could lift off of him fully.

            “None of that,” he growled and then grabbed her hips, pulling her down onto him hard enough to make her gasp. “You don’t get to tease me, Skaddi,” he moved her hips around, his own shifting so that she could feel him press against all of her walls.

            “Oh,” she whispered and tilted her head back.

            “Yeah,” he sat up, pulling her to him, into a kiss that turned into him biting her lip and down her neck. “I’ve decided I like being on top.”

            Skaddi swallowed and he followed it to her collar. Then his hands slid around to her back and ass and he leaned forward, pressing her into the bed as he rolled onto her. She tried to reach up and let her nails rake his back and get locked in his hair, but he grabbed her wrists and put them above her head, then held them in one of his hands.

            “No touch,” he taunted and then bit her neck.

            “Ah–Arthur,” she arched her chest into his and he moved down to her breast, nipping at the flesh the dragged his tongue flat across the peak. She wiggled and wrapped her legs around him, trying to get him to return to her heat.

            He grabbed her ankle and brought it up, putting her knee nearly to her shoulders. Then he reached around to grab her wrists and keep them pinned, securing her other leg to match. Now she was open to him with nothing to keep him from her. He smiled down between them as he rolled his hips, allowing his length to slide over her slit.

            She arched, but it was hard in his position, she couldn’t move much, though it wasn’t very uncomfortable, she could stay like this for a little while.

            Arthur shifted and his head parted her lips and she gasped feeling him slide in, giving her sweet relief at the arching that had been festering in her stomach. She groaned and squeezed her eyes shut, focusing on the feeling of him filling her. His skin was blazing against her, while hers was slick with a sheen of sweat.

            Then he started to move, his hips rolling, picking up quickly until he was leaning forward, tense, and his body drove into her repeatedly, without hesitation, his breathing matching his pace. Skaddi’s eyes snapped open and her lips fell apart in sheer pleasure, he was going deeper than he had yet, the angle allowing him to reach a part of her he hadn’t yet. His name fell from her lips broken by gasps and perforated by his thrusts.

            Her mind tried to wander, concerned for her appearance, the way her heavy breasts bounced and swayed, falling toward her face as the angle lifted her rear off the bed. The way her stomach was bent, giving it rolls and making it appear –in her eyes– unattractive. But Arthur wasn’t looking at her and seeing the same, he was looking into her eyes, to the way he made her beautiful body move, drawing out cries of pleasure only for him. He looked lovingly down at her breasts and allowed one of his hands to catch one, grasping it and twisting the nipple just enough to shock her into gasping.

            Arthur grunted out her name and squeezed his eyes shut, removing his arms from under her legs and wrapping them around her as he pushed in as deeply as he could. She could feel him press against her, hitting the end of what she had to offer, and then began to pulse, filling her. She whimpered, enjoying the feeling almost more than the actual sex. She threw her arms and legs around him to keep him close, inside of her.

            He found her mouth and they kissed, needy and hot at first, his teeth catching her lower lip and then it shifted, turning sweet as she pressed several shorter ones into his beard and he returned them on her jaw.

            “I’m going to get pregnant if we keep on like this,” she whispered and he lifted his head from her neck.

            “Do you want us to stop?” he tilted his head and frowned a little. “If you wanted me to pull out I could have I just thought…”

            She smiled and ran her fingers through his beard, it was started to get quite long. “I would be honored to have your children, Arthur,” she leaned forward to kiss him. “I simply hope that your image will not be tainted…”

            He shook his head, “Don’t worry about that. As long as you and I are together, and only with each other, no one will care enough for me to worry. And when you’re ready,” he dipped down and kissed at her throat, “We will be wed.”

            She hummed and smiled, biting her lip as she pressed into him more. He was still inside of her, though having gone soft. It felt so good to have my over her, heating her up, and, in a way, protecting her from everything outside. It was comforting, and having him inside of her only made her happier.

            “I love you, Arthur,” she whispered and he lifted his head to meet her pale blue eyes through the dim lighting.

            “And I love you, Skaddi.”

 

 

            Skaddi narrowed her eyes at Nate and he clasped his hands together. “Please…?” She didn’t like his severe change in attitude. He had gone from openly admitting he didn’t like her to… begging for her help. Her pale gaze squinted further and he sighed. “I really need the help. There’s no way we can get this done alone…”

            Her jaw set and she glanced over her shoulder at Danse and Reagan across the mess hall. The Knight was leaning forward, speaking quietly to the Paladin who was flushing slightly, as she ate a treat from the pink box that they’d retrieved from the Glowing Sea. Or perhaps it was another one? Skaddi couldn’t be sure. They still have a couple of days ‘off’ and she knew that they wouldn’t let her leave without them.

            “When are you doing this?”

            “The Minutemen are gathering in two days outside the Castle. It would be _great_ if you could help. I know whatever’s in there won’t be a match for you.”

            That. Right. There. Appealing to her ego, it put her off some, but he looked so genuine. Her gaze openly doubted him, but he continued to look at her, hopeful. Then he mouthed the word ‘please’ with a lopsided smile and the Dragonborn sighed. “All right, I will aid you, Nate.”

            “Oh, thank you!” he did a little excited dance and then threw his arms around her.

            Argis appeared and pulled the small man away from her with a heavy hand on his shoulder. “Don’t touch her,” he growled and Nate sunk in on himself. Argis’s necklace ended up being Reagan’s holotags because she needed to inscribe the enchantment on something that could hold it and it would take too long to make another necklace. Most necklaces around here were just chains, nothing large enough for the words to be etched into, so it was Reagan to offered up her tags and said she would just get new ones. Since she was off duty for a couple of days, it wouldn’t affect her any.

            Now Argis stood in his battle skirt made of steel and leather, with thick bracers and his weapons and shield slung over his back, his chest was bare, save the strap holding the items behind him, and the holotags fell to the space right above the crease of his pecks.

            Nate shrunk in on himself and cleared his throat. “You’re welcome to help out too, and them,” he waved his hand over at Reagan and Danse. “The more the merrier.”

            “Since when do you pledge allegiance elsewhere?” her brows drew together. She knew he had contact with the Railroad, but she didn’t think he was actually a member, and now the Minutemen…? Skaddi thought she remembered Preston Garvey from Sanctuary talking about them some, but she didn’t listen much and Rhys had been pretty good about running the man off.

            “They helped me before the Brotherhood,” he shrugged, “When I first left the Vault, I met Preston and them, and Codsworth and Dogmeat helped me get them to safety….” He grinned a little, “Codsworth’s been helping them best he can since I’ve been spending so much time here.”

            She nodded, “Do you claim other loyalties as well?”

            “What?” his brows drew together.

            “With those who may wish the Brotherhood ill?” she lifted a brow and he glared at her.

            “I don’t understand what you’re asking.”

            Argis shifted and his brows fell together, looking Nate over with his good eye. “She wants to know if you are going to become a threat.”

            The small man’s mouth opened and then closed. “You know I was in the army before the war, right? I know where my priorities are, I know who my family is, I don’t have to prove anything you to guys,” he pushed passed Skaddi, trying to shove her some out of his way, but he ended up tripping himself and he stumbled forward. Muttering under his breath, he headed toward the Command Deck, leaving Skaddi with Argis.

            “I do not like him, Thane.”

            “Nor do I, Argis,” she touched the nord’s chest and then grinned. “You wished to speak with Arthur when you were able? We can see him now if he is not busy.”

            “Aye, if it suit you, my Thane.”

 

 

            Skaddi stood beside Reagan who stood beside Danse, with very nearly the rest of the Prydwen standing at their backs, watching carefully as Teagan poured two more mugs and pushed them toward Elder Maxson and Argis the Bulwark.

            It was evening, clear skies outside of the Command Deck’s windows as the sun sank low in the distance casting beautiful colors and shadows over the Commonwealth, but no one was focused on that. They were focused on the two large men sitting across from each other drinking until one of them hit the floor. Even though the nord had twelve years on the Elder, he was in just the same state as the younger man.

            A few moments ago, Reagan had chuckled something about ‘The Elder’s alcoholism coming in handy after all’ to which Danse elbowed her and she quieted herself.

            Skaddi was proud of her man, he was respectful, just as Argis was, because this wasn’t a drinking game, it was a challenge, and the nord made it clear he had to approve of Arthur before being comfortable in his Thane being pledged to him. At first, Maxson had said that she was her own woman and could make her own decisions, but Skaddi quickly came forward and said that because her father was long dead, and Argis was the closest thing to a protective male figure she had, that it would only be right for him to approve. Once he saw that she approved of the challenge, Arthur accepted and promised to do whatever it took to prove himself to Argis that he was worthy of Skaddi.

            To which he corrected himself and said, “As worth as one can be for the perfect woman,” making Skaddi blush like a maiden.

            Now they were on their fifth mug each of the drink Proctor Teagan had pulled from the cage, per Arthur’s orders and caps. Argis said it tasted like piss compared to what they had at home, and Arthur said that the taste didn’t get better the more you drank. That made the nord smile, and they started downing the beverages as quickly as they could, very nearly tying each time.

            They’d both grown sluggish, though, their eyes heavy, their breathing forced, and their arms seeming to have to work harder, and more deliberately. Reagan chuckled again and leaned over to whisper in Skaddi’s ear, “Wonder what Artie’s like in the morning with a hangover… think your healing spell can fix _that_ bad of a headache?”

            Skaddi smirked and nodded, tipping her head to the side and touching Reagan’s forehead with hers. The woman smirked and straightened up, folding her arms over her chest so she stood beside her Paladin in the same pose, though she didn’t seem to notice. Even their feet were positioned to stand the same.

            Arthur dropped the mug back on the table and tilted his head thoughtfully at Argis who finished his right after, also allowing his glass to hit the table a little harder than he seemed to mean to.

            They stared at each other for a long moment, Argis’s eyes narrowed, while Arthur looked at ease, his battlecoat having been put on his chair to allow him more breathing room and to cool off after so much heat. Teagan leaned forward and checked both of them. “You two still alive?”

            “Aye.”

            “Yes.”

            “All right, gonna have to open another bottle then…”

            “Get the strong rum, Charlie, from my cabinet,” Arthur said and the Proctor’s brows lifted.

            “Are… you sure, sir? Seems a waste at this point…”

            “Get. The strong. Rum. Charlie,” Arthur repeated, eyes locked on Argis.

            “Yes, sir….”

            A few moments later Teagan was returning with the bottle and cracked it open, pouring it into the cup, Arthur stopped him before he thought he was done, and then took the bottle, pouring the same amount into Argis’s glass.

            “Taste it first,” the younger man said and Argis lifted the glass, sniffed, and sipped to get a taste. He winced and blinked, making Arthur smile. “Good luck,” the young Elder breathed.

            “And you,” Argis lifted it by the handle and offered a nod, Arthur copied.

            Then they both threw back the whole drink, fast, trying to outpace the other. Argis wasn’t expecting the sting, or burn, or whatever the flavor was, even after the sip, and coughed, but kept going. Arthur winced into his glass and opened his throat, letting it glide over his tongue and down with eyes squeezed shut tight, but Skaddi thought she saw his lashes shine with moisture. It must have really burned.

            Arthur slammed his glass down and Argis coughed again and swallowed the last, putting his mug down more slowly, marking his defeat without words. Of course, only Skaddi knew that, so she started smiling and very nearly clapped until she saw no one else knew what just happened.

            “You’ve one the first–” Argis paused and allowed a belch to slide up his throat and politely out of his lips where he muted it with his fist. “First challenge, young Elder.”

            “Thank you, it is an honor,” Arthur said and cleared his throat, then stiffened as if that had been a bad idea. “I think that’s enough for tonight, yes? Teagan?”

            The Proctor chuckled and nodded, “A model to us all, sir. All right! You all had your fun! Get out of here! Back to work! Bed! Whatever the hell you’re supposed to be doing!”

            The Command Deck cleared out and Skaddi stepped forward, going to Arthur’s side. Then she shifted and stood between them, her healing spell lifting to help best she could. “I cannot help with the alcohol, it acts as a poison so you will need to let it run its course, but when you are rid of it, I can aid the aches it leaves.”

            Arthur leaned into her healing hand, his forehead burning hot and flushed.

            “I… think I’m ready for bed,” he whispered and she nodded.

            “I’ll help you,” she smiled and then looked over at Argis who was closing his eyes and leaning forward.

            Reagan and Danse stepped up. “We’ll take him back to your quarters.”

            “Thank you.”

            When they had Argis on his feet and moving, Skaddi slipped an arm under Arthur’s and got him up. Then he grabbed his heavy coat and held it over his shoulder. He walked fine, considering, and she was mostly to keep him from swaying and to keep him straight.

            The ladder was fun, and she got a very nice few of his ass as he climbed up. Then they went into his chambers and he hit the mattress like a corpse. Skaddi laughed and went to him, opening his flights suit and then tried to work it off of him best she could until she had to wake him up to get him to move right.

            Arthur grumbled and whispered quiet swears, never opening his eyes as he shifted around and she got him to his smalls. Then she let him be and passed right back out, arms wrapped around one of the pillows and he buried his face in the other. The Skaal woman smiled and folded up his suit, putting it away and then hung his battle coat on the coat rack. She liked the heft of it, and how soft the fur on the collar and lapels were. It felt warm, and she found herself running her fingers over it as she though.

            Finally, the Dragonborn tore herself from the coat and stripped out of the uniform and joined her man in bed, turning the lights off on her way. When she settled in beside him, she slide close to his back and slid an arm around him, holding close to his strong back.

            Skaddi kissed the point where the spine went from being a part of the neck, to a part of the back and whispered her love for him, allowing sleep to take her while pressed into his heat.


	23. That's What Friends Are For

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Feels! And Backstory! And Plot? And SMUT (light and brief, but it's in there for you horny readers)! AND PLOT PLOT PLOT!
> 
> Warning it's a little long...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's What Friends Are For ~Jungle Book
> 
> A thousand hits! I'm so excited! Thank you all!

            The alarm sounded and Arthur jerked forward and immediately slammed back into the bed with a defeated huff. Skaddi chuckled and he groaned. “My head…”

            “Aye, that’s what accepting a drinking challenge with a nord will do,” she summoned her spell and touched his head lightly. The golden light illuminated them and he looked at her through squinted eyes.

            “You’re an angel.”

            “Nah,” she shook her head, “Just a Dragonborn.”

            “‘Just’?”

            She smiled and then climbed over him to go to the alarm and turn it off. She wasn’t sure what actually quieted it, but Arthur normally smacked the top and it shut up. When she came back and flipped the light on, he was sitting up. “While you do your work outs I’m going to check on Argis, I don’t expect he’ll be up for several hours.”

            “Very well,” he rolled his head, his neck cracking, then his shoulders followed suit. “Will you come back and shower with me?”

            “Aye, of course,” she grinned and picked up a flight suit, pulling it on and then exited his room while he got up and started his morning routine.

            Argis was lying on his stomach with an arm hanging over the edge of the bed to the floor, his face in the pillow. The blanket had been toss on him, but he kicked half of it off. She grinned and stepped closer, holding her spell over his head and healed him, he didn’t wake up, though he seemed he was sleeping a little better now.

            When she stepped out she saw Danse’s door open quietly. Skaddi paused and watched as Reagan stretched up and gave the Paladin a lingering kiss, her hand on his bare chest before she pulled away with a promise to return once she was showered and in a fresh uniform. He nodded and closed the door when she stepped away, running barefoot over the cool steel floor to the stairs.

            Skaddi couldn’t help herself, she followed the Knight, silently, and then crept up behind her when the woman knelt at her bunk’s miniature chest. It was a plain green thing with straight sides and lid.

            “How’s the Paladin?” Skaddi asked and Reagan jumped to her feet and fell over onto the bunk. Her hand grabbed at her heart and she gasped for air.

            “Jesus _Christ_ , woman. Where the hell did you come from?”

            “Arthur’s chambers, similar to you coming from Danse’s,” she lifted a brow and Reagan smirked.

            “Well, that’s your doing, now isn’t it?” Then she stood up and took a deep breath. “Fuck, scared the shit out of me…”

            “How are you two doing?”

            Reagan’s lips curled and she flushed a little under her freckles. “Outstanding, actually. We beat ourselves up that we were too scared to say anything sooner. Thank you, by the way,” she smiled and shrugged. “I probably wouldn’t have ever said anything, and I know he wouldn’t of.”

            Skaddi nodded, “Life is too short to hide your feelings.”

            “Yeah,” she touched her stomach then and tilted her head. “We’re…” she cleared her throat and flushed deeper, “We’re trying for a baby.”

            “Oh?” the Dragonborn’s brows lifted in surprise and the Knight nodded.

            “We both want a family, and kids are a given. We’re hoping I get pregnant fast,” she let her hand fall back to her side. “I have an appointment in two weeks with Cade to have a test.”

            “You can test for that?”

            “Yeah, takes a couple days though, he and I haven’t…” she coughed and shrugged again, “We’ve been trying any chance we get.” She smirked.

            “Will you be getting married?” Skaddi grinned.

            Reagan sat down on her bed and looked at her hands. “He wants to, I’m just… I’m just scared I guess,” she looked around and then bent over to get her things out of her chest upside down and stood up. “We’ll talk in the shower, I… I’d like to talk about it, I haven’t told anyone, not even Merrin.”

            “Okay, Reagan.”

 

 

            Reagan’s life was a complicated string that was almost hard for Skaddi to follow, but she managed, and was there for her as she cried several times. From her birth until she was sixteen she was engaged to a boy by the name of Jacob Glass –one of the legitimate sons of Victor Glass, to whom Michael is the bastard son of. Jacob had been a good child, but grew to become like his father –unfaithful and abusive. She had originally followed in her father’s footsteps on the path of becoming a Lancer, but knocked out her co-pilot on a training flight and was suggested to the knight’s path.

            Her Lancer-Captain father –William Knight– was best friends with Victor Glass –who held the same rank–, and they both expressed their disappointment in her switching paths. Before all of that she had squired under Danse –his first time taking a squire as a newly promoted knight– and it hadn’t ended well, with her feeling she could learn nothing from someone who had been in the Brotherhood for less time than herself.

            She was placed in his unit when she was promoted to knight, because of her friendship with Arthur and the influence he had. She had gotten passed her initial opinions of Danse’s lack of longevity when she saw him excel passed his peers. The more time they spent together, the more their feelings grew, but they never made it obvious enough for the other to know.

            Her fiancé, Jacob, insisted she change back to the path of Lancer –which was normally hard to do, but they knew too many of the right people for the transfer to take longer than a week. She had kicked herself for doing it, she hated being without her power armor, and she never got to see Danse anymore.

            When she was sixteen, Jacob forced himself on her and stole her purity. She had gone straight to Danse who knew something was wrong the moment he saw her. He took her to the medic and then got her parents. The Paladin and Lancer-Captain crippled the boy, ended the engagement permanently, and severed the friendship her father had with Victor Glass. No one outside the small group knew what really happened, not even the Elder and Maxson. Michael Glass doesn’t even know what his brother did to her.

            “Where is Jacob now?” Skaddi asked and Reagan cleared her throat and wrung her hair out of soap under the stream of water. It seemed to be releasing a brownish tint, and the Skaal frowned at it. Did Reagan paint her hair?

            “He’s… around. His father works back at the Citadel, and he’s one of the fleet leaders that brings supplies between the Capital and the Commonwealth. He’s a Lancer-Sergeant just like Michael,” she frowned and turned off the water. “Only because his dad pushed for it after Michael got promoted. Michael’s a far better pilot than Jacob.” Her jaw tightened and then she pointed at Skaddi, “You know, Michael built the Primair himself? All alone, wouldn’t let anyone do _anything_ that he wasn’t actually directing or right there watching to make sure _they_ did it right? He salvaged all her parts from other ‘birds that would get decommissioned for whatever reason. And what does Jacob do? He just gets his dad’s ‘family vertibird’.” She snorted and grabbed her towel, starting to dry her hair off roughly, running it back and forth over her head. “The Icarus is a piece of shit compared to the Primair.”

            Skaddi nodded, though she had no idea where this rant came from.

            “I’m sorry, you don’t care about all that…” she sighed and cleared her throat. “I guess, it’s…. Since I was a little girl I thought about being married to Jacob, being bound to him my whole life, to take his last name and be a Glass…. I just…” she scratched at her head through the towel and shrugged. “I guess I just associate marriage with Glass now, and I just can’t… shake the fear. I know Danse will be different, and I do want to marry him, but I want to forget what being engaged to Jacob feels like first.” Then the woman tilted her head up and smiled at Skaddi, “I think Reagan Danse suits me far matter than Knight or Glass anyway.”

            “Skip the engagement, then, just marry him,” Skaddi lifted a brow and Reagan blinked.

            “I…” she looked down and flushed. “My mom and dad will want to come to the wedding…”

            “Plan it for a few days from now and have them come?” Skaddi imagined they would drop everything for her if they were anything like her parents.

            “I… I,” Reagan’s honey eyes widened and tears filled them as she smiled. “I need to talk to Sebastian, run it by him.”

            “Of course,” Skaddi smiled and then the knight threw the towel around herself and nearly ran from the washroom.

 

 

            “I don’t like it,” Danse frowned, his glare heavy as he folded his arms and leaned back against his power armor. Reagan was also frowning, her honey gaze darting to each of the ‘artillery’ machines the Minutemen were building at their Castle.

            It had taken two days to clear out all of the mudcrabs and their eggs, and early in the morning on the second day they’d been set upon by a massive sea beast they called ‘the queen’. Danse and Reagan’s armor had been ‘compromised’ because of the acid spit from the queen. It didn’t get the frame, so they could still use the suits. Skaddi didn’t know what that all meant, but was happy to know that the soldiers weren’t upset or going to get in trouble for the damage.

            Nate was… nowhere to be found. Skaddi had waited for six days here with the soldiers for him after he disappeared the first night. MacCready hadn’t been here at all. Not that she was looking for him, but thought it was odd.

            Preston Garvey had been more than kind, giving them beds, food, and water in exchange for their help with the crabs and for helping Ronnie Shaw with getting to and securing the Castle’s armory. Reagan and Danse had been fine with helping them arm themselves, but now the soldiers looked uncomfortable and… nervous with the construction of ‘artillery’ nearing completion.

            “Why?” Skaddi tilted her head at the Paladin.

            It was Reagan who answered, her voice soft, “They have the means to take down the Prydwen now.”

            Skaddi’s brows narrowed and she looked over the Minutemen. “They lack the spine.”

            Reagan actually ‘hah’ed at that and then shook her head, “Last thing we need is them going to bed with an enemy that’s got a good back. Like the Railroad.”

            “Or the Institute,” Danse added and both women looked at him. “How long will we wait for Briars? When I spoke with Elder Maxson yesterday he was quite displeased with your decision to stay here until he returns.”

            “We haven’t found a body, and he had been quite adamant about asking for our help. I find it very… unsettling that he would just disappear.”

            Reagan nodded, glancing at Danse who was watching each Minuteman carefully. The Knight had talked to him about arranging a wedding sooner rather than later, and he had agreed, but it was Reagan’s parents that delayed it. Her father was on a mission that wasn’t due to get back for a week, plus the week or so that it would take them to get up to the Commonwealth in the vertibird. Reagan as worried that Danse would be upset, but he wasn’t, not that Skaddi could see at least. It didn’t comfort her, though, and she had been on edge since they came here.

            “We will have to go back to the Prydwen soon,” she sighed and shrugged. “We can’t just hang out here. At least Danse and I can’t.”

            Skaddi nodded and looked over at Argis who was helping the farmer-soldiers carry lumber up to the walls of the Castle to build guard posts. Then she looked at the ‘artillery’ machine. The one in the corner closest to the Prydwen was about finished –it had been the first one started.

            Ronnie Shaw walked up then, and grinned at Skaddi. “Thanks again for you help, civilian,” she smirked and then looked at Danse and Reagan a little harder. “Too bad about Sarge… he would have been a great asset.”

            Danse straightened away from his power armor and gestured to the walls, “Appears you have enough firepower as it is, I think you’ll do fine without a centurybot.”

            Shaw’s brows drew together and she narrowed her already squinted eyes at the Paladin, “So it’s okay for you to run ‘round with that blimp and those whirly-birds, those suits a’power armor, but we can’t have some artillery and _one_ centurybot?”

            Skaddi stiffened and tilted her head at the woman, “If the Brotherhood is so close they can aid you should you need it, meaning you do not require such weaponry.”

            Shaw scoffed, “The Big Bad Brotherhood coming to a militia’s aid? That’s rich, it’s almost like asking them to help with settlements getting attacked.”

            Reagan threw her arms across her chest, “Have you been blind to the ‘birds we send out to take out mutant hives and ghoul nests? How would your settlements fair if we weren’t using _our_ resources to clear them, huh?”

            “What about the raiders?”

            “We deal with them when they become a problem,” Danse’s creamy brown eyes were hard and narrowed at the small woman. She was a tiny thing, standing only to Skaddi’s shoulder –she would be best described as a Breton, honestly. Her face was short and stuck out with a pointed nose and chin, and her hair was odd, not pleasing to Skaddi, though it was hidden under a cap.

            “Funny, I could imagine you using that same phrase to describe when you work with civilians,” Shaw snapped and all three of them stiffened and turned hard glares onto her.

            “Are you accusing the Brotherhood of harming civilians?” Danse asked calmly.

            “Well, what do you call it when power armor wearin’ brothers walk into a settlement and demand ‘tribute’ be paid?”

            “The settlements are _paid_ for what they give to the Brotherhood, and then protected by our soldiers,” he countered and Skaddi watched Shaw’s face closely.

            “Paid? You’re _paying_ settlers a slave’s wage for the only thing keeping them alive. The only different between what you do and what the raiders do is that you give them the means to keep it up. The money you give them isn’t enough to replace what you took _and_ start the next harvest. It’s only enough to keep the farm going while they _starve_.”

            “That’s outrageous,” Reagan jerked forward and Danse snagged her around the torso to keep her back as Shaw held her weapon tighter. “I’ve been on those missions. We give them _plenty_ of pay for the crops we take. It’s not our fault half of them are chem addicts!”

            “Knight,” Danse growled and pulled her back to stand beside him. Shaw kept a hard glare on her and then looked at the Paladin when he stepped forward. “I will speak with the Elder about raise the pay we give the settlements.”

            “Why not try farming for yourselves? Or going to Diamond City and getting your supplies?” she lifted a brow and forced innocence, like she didn’t know that wouldn’t be enough.

            “If your forces ever move passed the volunteered force of fifteen,” Danse stepped closer, looking down into her face so that she actually swallowed –the only show of fear in her tiny body–, “Then you will know that having an army means sacrifices. This time, the sacrifice is independence and we have to reach out for the supplies we need.”

            “Sounds more like it’s our sacrifice,” she said, her voice even as she glared up at him. Skaddi didn’t know what to do, or say. She’d never seen Danse like this. Then again, she’d never seen him around someone who had such opinions about the Brotherhood.

            “If that’s how you’re going to see it.”

            “It’s how we all see it.”

            “Very well,” he stepped back. “I will be removing my forces from the Castle, and will inform Elder Maxson of your view on our interactions with the settlements.”

            “Thanks.”

            Danse spun on his heels and went to his power armor, motioning for Reagan to do the same thing. She was glaring, her hands balled up into tight fists, but she turned and climbed into her armor. Skaddi’s jaw was tight as she stared down Ronnie Shaw. The woman glanced at her and frowned deeper.

            “What?”

            “You’re making a mistake.”

            “Y’all shouldn’t’a messed with the Minutemen’s settlements.”

            “Are you declaring us an enemy?” Skaddi’s hands shifted to her hips, near her axes. Shaw noticed and her gun lifted slightly.

            “Just clarifying that we ain’t friends, princess.”

            “I am no princess,” Skaddi stepped closer to the woman, “You were not here when I used my _Voice_ to slaughter the sea beast. I’m sure you’ve heard your men talking. I am not of this land, Ronnie Shaw, and you cannot stand up to me.”

            “You’re just another weapon in their arsenal then, _princess_ ,” she shook her head and smirked at Skaddi. “Think they’re your friends all you want, but if you’re as powerful as you say, as I hear, then the only reason they care about you so much is because of that.”

            Power armor stepped up between them abruptly and Skaddi glared up at Reagan. “Back off our Dragonborn, civilian.”

            Shaw laughed, “‘Civilian’? That’s _cute_ coming from you, girl.”

            Reagan turned her back and then pressed an armored hand to Skaddi’s shoulders to get her to start walking. She called for Argis who jumped down from the wall, landing hard and easily so as not to break something, and came to her side.

            “What is it, my Thane?”

            “We’re leaving, they don’t want our help.”

            “Oh,” he looked back, confused and Skaddi also turned to see. Preston Garvey was coming up to Ronnie Shaw. He looked angry and gestured to them a few times and she shouted right back, also gesturing.

            Preston pushed his weapon into her hand and came running toward them. “Hey! Wait!”

            Danse pulled a tube from a compartment on his armor and dropped it to the ground. Smoke fell out of it and then he turned back to look at Preston. “What is it, Garvey?”

            “I’m sorry about her, she’s just–”

            “She was very clear about her feelings on the Brotherhood,” Reagan cut him off and shifted in her armor, making it creak because of the melted metal.

            The red guard shook his head and then looked at Skaddi, “She just doesn’t understand what all you’ve done for us. I–I don’t want to lose you as an ally.”

            “I am with the Brotherhood, I will not ally against them,” Skaddi told him and he nodded.

            “Yeah, that’s fine, I don’t mind the Brotherhood, as long as they don’t hurt civilians and they keep helping.”

            “Ronnie Shaw seems to think we should look for food and supplies elsewhere, leave the settlements alone,” Skaddi frowned and Preston shook his head.

            “No, some of those settlements rely on the Brotherhood Patrols to keep the raiders off them, if you take them away…”

            “Maybe then your second in the command will ask for our help?” Reagan turned her back as a vertibird came to hover above them.

            “No, please, don’t withdraw your troops,” Preston pleaded and then looked at Skaddi.

            She had nothing more to say to him. She turned her back and looked at Argis who was frowning deeply between the soldiers, her, and Preston, but he said nothing. When the ‘bird landed, they climbed in, locked themselves in place and buckled up, then left Preston Garvey there, staring after them as they returned to the Prydwen.

 

 

            Maxson decided not to withdraw the troops from the most at-risk settlements, increased the pay offered to the farmers, and lowered the number of men –and decided against power armored soldiers– sent to collect the supplies and make deals with the settlers. Skaddi felt it was more than fair, and only hoped that the Minutemen wouldn’t make the mistake to ask for any more. Arthur was also less than pleased to learn that the Minutemen had artillery so close to the Prydwen in the hands of people who didn’t exactly care for them.

            Skaddi pointed out that even if they did manage to take down the Prydwen, the Brotherhood’s forces would easily defeat them. That alone would make them hesitate in an attack.

            Reagan then offered up her fear of them rallying with another faction that could give them the aid to at least _feel_ they could win a fight, which would be enough to make them do something rash.

            All around, Arthur ended up pissed and asked to be alone. Skaddi hesitated, and stepped up to him, touching his shoulder to get him to look at her. He did, and seemed to relax some.

            “Why did you stay so long?”

            “Nate still hadn’t returned when we left. I don’t understand how he could just disappear. Neither Argis nor I could find his tracks. It is as if he… vanished.”

            “Teleported?” his brows frowned and Skaddi stiffened.

            “Could he have returned to the Institute?”

            “He gave us some information on it, he seemed hesitant rather than forgetful. I think he’s keeping information, and we both already know he’s not opposed to lying to us.” Arthur’s jaw tightened and he rubbed his face roughly. Then he sighed. “I have a mission for you, I’ll need you to leave in the morning.”

            “What is it?”

            “It’s going back to the Glowing Sea,” he turned to her and held her arms, then slid his hands to her hips and pulled her closer. “Liberty Prime is almost complete, we are just missing two things, and one of those are his nukes. He needs them to be at full operation. We thought they would be easy to find, but…” he sighed and closed his eyes.

            “It’s all right, Arthur, I’ll get your nukes,” she smiled and lifted her hands to cup his jaw, her fingers running through his rough beard. “For now, I’m going back to your quarters. I’ve missed the heat of your shower, and your bed is far more comfortable than those in the Castle.”

            He smiled at that and kissed her forehead. “I’ll come up when I’ve finished here.”

            “Aye,” she pressed her lips to his cheek and parted from him to go upstairs.

 

 

            Arthur’s arms around her were tight, his chest pressed into her back as he bit her shoulder and rolled his hips. She had never thought she would enjoy this, but it was… a whole different feeling.

            Lying flat on her stomach with her legs together, he had intended on finding her core and making love to her that way, but he prodded the wrong hole. She jerked away, striking up the conversation about trying it, and if she didn’t like it, they would stop. Only, she had liked it, once he was in and she’d adjusted to him, and oh did he like it too.

            His hands cupped her breasts and squeezed, pulling on the nipples as he gave her hard thrusts, his length getting lost in the mounds of her ass before burying deep in her tightest hole. She could feel him so much easier here, and it was a completely different sensation. Her favorite part was how he held her, though, engulfing her in his heat and body so that all she could feel was him and his bed beneath her.

            His mouth moved up from her shoulder to her ear and he panted her name, getting her to arch against him and give him a new angle. It did not give her the writhing snakes, but it satisfied her in a different way, hearing his pleasure and feeling him within her…

            Arthur’s hands drifted back to her hips and he held her against him, pushing hard and deep into her ass as he came and growled her name against her neck. She smiled and propped herself up on her elbows so he could relax his chin on her shoulder. His fingers left marks, but she enjoyed seeing them, and feeling them.

            “You liked that, then,” she grinned over her shoulder at him. He nodded and cleared his throat.

            “And you?”

            “I would not have let you continue if I would not have enjoyed it,” she chuckled and kissed his nose. He nodded and wiped his sweaty face against her shoulder blade.

            “I’m surprised at how much you’re open to,” he breathed and then rolled off of her, pulling out. She remained there and looked at him while he tried to relax into his bed and slow his breathing. Before going to the Castle, when she was done talking to Reagan, she came back to him finishing his shower and had taken the chance to kneel before him and please him with her mouth, how he had her several times.

            She’d never done it before, and was timid, but he gave her pointers, and they went slow, allowing her to get comfortable with it. When he came, she was startled and rather than swallowing it, he sprayed her face. Despite his apologies, he appeared to have liked the sight, and she decided she would do it again soon. Tonight he had been on her before she could reach him, though, and even though he was breathing heavily, she knew he wasn’t done, and was simply relaxing to work himself back up.

            Sanguine had said to experiment, and that’s what she was doing, finding she liked everything they’d done so far, and Arthur was more than happy with it as well.

            Skaddi reached out and ran her fingers through his beard, then his chest hair. “I’m going to shower. Then we continue, aye?”

            “Of course,” he smiled and she leaned in to kiss him, then got up and went into his washroom.

            The shower was mostly so she could figure out how to get his seed out of her, and so she ended up at the toilet first, and then under the stream of water.

            “Oh my!”

            Skaddi nearly fell out of the tub at the voice suddenly behind her. Her heart stopped and she grabbed her chest before trying to cover herself up.

            The man standing in the shower behind her was white haired and dressed in a suit that was half orange and half purple. She remembered him right away and glared, trying to shield her body from his white gaze. “Sheogorath,” she growled.

            “ _Dovahkiin_ , you look… hehe, well.” He tilted his head and then chuckled a little to himself, bringing his hands up to tap his fingers together in front of his mouth.

            “Why do the Deadric Princes come to me whilst I shower?”

            “You are rarely alone, _Dovahkiin_ ,” he shrugged, “But that matters not to me. I came to speak with you…”

            “You know Sanguine has as well?” she lifted a brow and he nodded, a lot, too much, his head just kept nodding and then he threw it back and sighed heavily.

            “I wish that he would stop being so _dramatic_ , he acts as though we do not share interests…”

            “I would have thought you two would get along well,” Skaddi frowned.

            “Me too!” he threw his arms up and then stepped a little closer, the water pouring down onto his suit. “But–not why I’m here. I came here to talk to you –my _champion_.”

            “I thought there was a new champion in Skyrim claiming my titles?”

            Before she was done speaking he was shaking his head and made a horrid, disgusting sound, “Ach! Don’t talk about that… wanna-be! He’s claiming all of the titles and yet he bends only to Boethiah!” His nose wrinkled and he gagged. Then he covered his mouth and said in a high pitched voice, “Do you know he has yet to use my Wabbajack?!”

            “I did not either,” she lifted a brow and his hand covered his heart in shock.

            “Yes–yes–yes, I know, I _know_ , but you were kind and put it on display, yes? He put it in a _box_! _A box_! Not even a chest! It is a crate…” he bit his knuckles and looked away from her.

            “I’m… sorry?” she lifted a brow and he looked back at her with teary eyes.

            “Oh, thank you, _Dovahkiin_ ,” then he threw his arms around her and hugged her. She stiffened and he stroked her wet hair. “This is why you’re my favorite mortal.”

            “Um… thanks? Can you…” she started to push against him.

            “Ah, yes–yes–yes,” he giggled and stepped back. “ _So_ , I didn’t just come to say hello. I came to offer up my champion a new gift, something better than what Sanguine had to give you, yes–yes–yes,” he chuckled and rubbed his hands together then held out his right palm to her. It was empty and she frowned at him, her arms crossed over her chest.

            “Um…”

            “Oh­–oops, wrong hand,” he tilted his head side-to-side and smiled so wide it had to hurt. Then he offered up his left hand and showed her a jagged looking soul gem. It looked filled with a black soul based on the dark mist swirling within.

            “Thank you,” she said and reached out to take it.

            He jerked it back and shook his head, “Hahaha, no–no–no, you think it’s just a simple soul gem, yes? _Hah_! Silly, _Dovahkiin_.” He giggled, a cackle in his throat. His hands lifted delicately and he rolled his eyes, “This here, is your way home.”

            Her lips parted and she gaped at him, “Wha… What?”

            “It’s a portal,” he blinked at her and she nodded.

            “It’ll… take me home?”

            “Yes,” he took her hand and placed it in her palm. “It’ll take you to Skyrim, let’s say… in the middle of Whiterun hold, yes? That’s safe, nothing wrong there, yes?” he tilted his head and she continued to stare at him.

            “How… do I use it…?”

            “Hmm, I should probably explain that, huh?” he cleared his throat and then nodded to himself. “Yes–yes–yes, here it is, toss it to the ground and when it shatters it will take the thrower, and whoever is touching the thrower, to Skyrim.”

            “As simple as that?” she lifted a brow.

            “Yes–yes–yes, _Dovahkiin_ , and I’ll even let you keep whatever you’re wearing and carrying –can’t have you dropping into Whiterun hold naked–” he stopped short and blinked, looking her over. “You’re naked.”

            “I am…”

            “Oh,” he lifted his eyes and cleared his throat. “But yes–yes–yes, _Dovahkiin_ , I will allow you to bring anything you’re holding, wearing, and whoever is touching you.”

            “Thank you, so much, Sheogorath,” she smiled up at him and he bowed to her deeply.

            “But–but–but, _Dovahkiin_ , there is a catch.”

            “What is it?” she gripped the soul gem tighter.

            “If you use this to return to Skyrim, you may never come here again. You will be forever locked from this world,” he gestured around and she gulped.

            “Never?”

            “Never, it will release a spell on you, and you will not be able to reenter this world.”

            She looked down at the gem and bit her lip. “Why do this?”

            “I cannot have you just using it to pop back in and visit only to leave me again, _Dovahkiin_ ,” he shook his head, too fast, too much, and giggled. “You are my champion, and I will not allow you to simply put me aside again.”

            She nodded and held the gem to her heart. “Thank you, Sheogorath.”

            He giggled and held his hands in front of him, “I hope to see you again… _Dovahkiin_.”

            Then he stepped out of the shower, humming, and then the washroom went quiet. She peeked her head out to see around the curtain and the room was empty. Then she turned off the water and stepped out, her pale eyes on the soul gem, her mind racing on thoughts of going home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUUUN! PLOT! BAM! ON BOTH FRONTS!  
> What the hell is Nate doing anyway?  
> What is with the Daedric Princes and showing up while she's in the shower?  
> THE WORLD MAY NEVER KNOW :D


	24. I See the Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur decides how he's going to take on Argis in their next challenge, and Skaddi sees something she wasn't supposed to...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I See the Light ~Tangled

            Arthur threw back another glass and Skaddi waited, her face stoic as she gripped the soul gem tightly in her hand. It hurt because of the jagged edges, but she barely recognized the pain. Her attention was on the Elder, gaging his reaction.

            Finally, he spoke, “It’s your way home.”

            “Aye, but it will forever lock me away from you,” she stood up from his bed and walked over to where he was leaning against his table. “I cannot leave you, not like that.”

            Arthur’s steel blue gazed flitted over to her and then searched her face. He straightened and turned to square himself on her. “You would give up your only way home for me?”

            “It’s not the only way, it is only Sheogorath’s way,” she put it down softly on the table and then wrapped her arms around his torso. He was naked, like her. “Sanguine may still have a way that would allow me to simply go to Skyrim to secure its safety and return here. I would like to say goodbye to my mother as well…”

            He nodded and his thick arms circled her, holding her to him.

            “But if it were the only way,” she added, tilting her face up to look at him, “Then I would not use it. Not if it meant I could never see you again, Arthur. You mean too much to me.”

            His breathing seemed to relax at that and his arms tightened. “I wish I could just… leave and go with you, Skaddi. But–”

            “You have people to lead. I would not ask a king to abandon his kingdom for me, I will not ask you to leave your army.”

            His hands cupped her face and he looked her over carefully. “How did I get so lucky with you? That you understand me so easily?”

            She smiled and turned her face in his grasp to kiss his palm. “We were simply meant to be.”

            He nodded and pulled her into a longing kiss. Her arms wrapped around his neck and they pressed against each other. The rough of his beard scratched at her face and tickled her nose. Hot hands moved down from her jaw to cup her breast and then trace down her sides to grab her hips and pull him against her more so she could feel him grow excited.

            “Argis will be challenging you again,” Skaddi breathed when his mouth moved to her neck.

            “Any idea what it will be?”

            “There are few things that will impress a nord,” she sighed when he bit her throat. It felt good and made it hard to focus. “Drinking, fighting, and–” she coughed, “Um, fucking. But I doubt he will ask a challenge of the last.”

            Arthur lifted his head and narrowed his brows at her, “I hope for his health he does not.”

            She smiled and nodded. “Fighting, though, will be the next challenge. As it is not a duel, it will be wrestling, hand-to-hand. Something Argis is… quite good at, better than even me,” she frowned and Arthur straightened up.

            “Only Reagan bests me when we spar.”

            Skaddi nodded, “And I bested Reagan.”

            Maxson’s jaw tensed and he looked away, his thoughts racing behind his gaze. She enjoyed that expression, the thoughtful furrow of his brow as his jaw tightened. It gave him a completely different appearance than when he was angry or giving orders, even if others couldn’t tell.

            “I suggest some training before hand, he will allow you to prepare yourself.”

            “I want to watch him spar,” Arthur said and Skaddi nodded.

            “If you allow him the same, he will accept.”

            “Very well, today at thirteen hundred. Do you know where the sparring mats are?”

            “Upstairs passed the showers.”

            “Yes,” he smiled and then scooped her up off her feet. “ _Dovahkiin_ ,” he growled into her neck and put her down on the bed, lying on her between her legs.

            She smiled at him and watched as he sucked a nipple into his mouth, arching his hips to rub his stiffening length against her core. “ _Dii jun_ ,” she breathed and he lifted his head to raise an eyebrow.

            “What is that? Your necklace doesn’t translate that?”

            “Dragon? I… guess not,” she tilted her head and touched it. “I said ‘my king’.”

            He lifted a brow at that and smirked, “I am no king, Skaddi.”

            “ _My king_ ,” she kicked her legs around him and pulled him closer. “The ruler of my heart.”

            At that he nodded and said, “That makes you my queen.”

            She nodded and grinned. Then Arthur rolled his hips and pressed into her and she gasped, arching her back to press into him.

 

 

            Reagan bounced on her feet back and forth as she shook out her wrists and kept loose. Argis was on the side of the mat getting ready to step in. To make sure it was fair, he was given the PT –physical training– uniform that the Brotherhood wore, a simple tshirt and shorts. Sparring was done with bare hands and feet, rules consisted of no striking of your opponent, only grabbing, grabbling, pinning, and the like. Skaddi had watched Reagan warm by with Danse. He had eight years on her, but she was more than spry, she relished hand-to-hand, and was the best on the ship.

            Of course, that meant that if Argis could beat her, that Arthur really needed to work on his techniques. Skaddi knew that her man could win, though. Her pale eyes kept flicking over to him where he stood with his arms crossed and studied every movement made by Argis or Reagan.

            Danse stepped up to Skaddi’s side and she smirked at him, “How’re you feeling?”

            “Fine, she didn’t hurt me this time,” he smiled and she nodded, but pulled up her spell anyway and drew a line down his spine. He relaxed a little and sighed. “Thank you, Ice-Hunter.”

            “Please just call me Skaddi, Danse,” she tilted her head up and he nodded.

            “Do you think Argis will best Reagan?”

            “Argis has bested me, and I have bested Reagan, but that does not mean he can get her,” she returned her attention to the ring where the nord was climbing in.

            Reagan held her hands in front of her, her wrists limp as she swayed back and forth in front of Argis who lowered himself and waited for someone to start the round. There was a ding and the nord charged forward, throwing his arms out to embrace the soldier and take her to the ground.

            Reagan was quick, though, and shifted to the side, using her arms to redirect his grasp and keep him from grabbing her.

            “Come on,” the Knight breathed and bounced back and forth. Argis turned and tilted his head, watching her closely.

            Then he came forward and reached out, quickly being redirected by Reagan’s fluid movement. She shifted back and let him come to her. When he got closer she slipped by his reach, wrapped an arm around his and then leapt up onto him, getting her legs around his shoulder and neck. Argis grunted and reached for her but her arm locked with his twisted and then he shifted his weight tilting to dislodge her.

            Reagan jerked her body as they fell so they landed on his back with her on top.

            With an amazing speed, Argis rolled over onto her, wrenching his arm from her grasp and pinning her to the ground. Reagan growled and used her leg around his neck to push him down and her up off the ground before she could be called as pinned. Then she flicked her other foot under the arm he was using for stability and took it out from under him.

            Argis grunted as he hit the ground and Reagan climbed onto him, pinning him as he struggled to get enough footing to turn them over. She remained and used her leg locked on his arm to cause pain when he moved.

            “Looks like she’s got him,” Danse said and Skaddi narrowed her eyes.

            “Not… yet.”

            Argis was about twice Reagan’s weight, or very nearly so. She had speed, but he had size, and he knew how to use it. Arigs used his powerful legs to turn his body into her hold and keep her from bending him. Then he got enough room to snake his arm around her torso and pull her over him, onto his chest and then roll onto her, pinning her with nearly all of his weight.

            “Agh–fuck!” she growled and wiggled, but he had her arm under his at an awkward angle and she hissed when it bent. “Motherfuck–” she barked and her legs moved back and forth, trying to place where his were so she could hook one, but it was too late, the bell rang and marked her as defeated.

            Argis stood and offered her a hand. She took it and bounced up onto her feet.

            “Damn,” she smiled at him and then punched his chest lightly. “You’re good. Give Artie a run for his money,” then she turned her dark honey gaze over to look at her Elder.

            Skaddi also looked at Maxson who was stoic other than the narrowed brow. “You did well, Knight.”

            “Thank you, sir,” she smiled and then walked over to her corner of the ring to grab her towel and wipe her face. Danse went to her and Skaddi stepped up to Maxson’s side.

            “What do you think?”

            “I think he went easy on her,” Arthur breathed and Skaddi nodded.

            “Aye, but not as much as you think,” she rubbed his back over his battlecoat and flight suit, hoping he could feel it. “Don’t give it your best, just like him, no matter if you win or lose, just… hold your own, that will earn respect from him.”

            “Do you often wrestle like this in Skyrim?”

            She chuckled, “Normally it is brawls. Fist fights in the streets, first one to hit the snow loses.”

            Arthur frowned, “Why are we wrestling then?”

            “You… want to brawl with him?”

            “If that is your way.”

            “But it is not yours, Arthur,” she frowned at him and he turned to her.

            “That doesn’t matter. This isn’t about me, Skaddi. This is about me showing him that I am the best choice for you. I want to do this right.”

            She felt her chest swell with pride in him and she nodded. “Aye, I’ll tell him then.”

            “Thank you,” he breathed and looked back at the ring.

            Skaddi went up to Argis and grinned at him, “How was that?”

            “She drinks the least milk,” he chuckled and stepped out of the ring to stand on her level. Skaddi smiled and nodded.

            “Arthur has decided he’ll take the brawl. I… assumed he would be more comfortable with a familiar fighting style, but he wishes to do this the nord way.”

            Argis looked passed her to the Elder and a smile spread over his mouth, wrinkling the scar down his cheek. “Very well, you will need your spell on hand, aye?”

            “For both of you,” she snapped and he chuckled when she slapped his chest. “Do not let him fool you into thinking he will go down so easily, he is Elder for more reasons than his voice. You remember Ulfric Stormcloak. You thought the man only told his armies what to do, yet he fights beside them with just as much vigor.”

            “Have you seen the young Elder fight, my Thane?” he lifted a brow.

            “I haven’t the need, his men boast and the stories I’ve heard…. They have beasts here like dragons, and he defeated one with but a dagger, marked only by the scar on his face… and a couple elsewhere,” she smirked at her housecarl who lifted a brow and then snorted.

            “Then he will take me easily.”

            “He won’t be trying to kill you,” she pointed out and Argis shrugged.

            “Nor will I him.”

            Skaddi shook her head and then smiled at him. “It is good to have you here…”

            “By your side is my only place, Thane.”

            She touched his arm and nodded once. “I have to speak with you once we’ve finished this up.”

            “Of course, Thane.”

 

 

            “It’ll take about a day to get to the facility once you check in at Waypoint Echo and set up a line of communication. I suggest spending the night there and leaving early in the morning,” Maxson zipped up Skaddi’s flight suit and sighed.

            She smiled and leaned forward so that her forehead pressed against his. He circled his arms around her and she knew that he wasn’t worried about them returning, but more so he did not want her to go in the first place. But it made sense to send in the same people who made it in and back out with… –nearly– no incident.

            “You have extra Rad-X packed, Radaway enough to cure a ghoul –if it were possible– and they have their power armor, which means it is mostly for you,” he pulled back and gave her a meaningful look. “Take one pill every hour, at least, that will keep you from catching too many rads.”

            “I will,” she promised and he looked over her face.

            “I need you to come back. No matter how well I think I have your face memorized I always forget something until I see you again,” he shook his head and his thumb traced her right jaw where her skin had a pale splotch that ran down onto her neck. Then he touched the scar on the left side of lips. “You are beautiful.”

            “Thank you, Arthur,” she smiled and flushed lightly under her light freckles. “I will return to you, no longer than a week.”

            He nodded and kissed her before they grabbed her knapsack and started out to the hallway. Quinlan was stepping off the ladder when Arthur closed his door and turned around.

            “Oh, Elder, Dragonborn, just who I wished to speak with,” he smiled and Skaddi lifted a brow. “I have nearly finished the encryption on the holotape Mr. Briars brought us from the Institute, and my studies on the objects that our kind Dragonborn has brought are going swimmingly.”

            “I am happy to be of service, should you need any aid in translating the books I will work on it when I return,” she offered and he nodded.

            “Thank you so, Dragonborn.”

            Maxson smiled and touched her back. “If you would excuse us, Quinlan, we must get to the Flight Deck.”

            “Of course, sir. To Victory, Dragonborn,” Quinlan saluted and Skaddi returned it before heading over to the ladder.

            Argis was staying back to help Arthur train correctly for their fight. It was important for the Elder to know the rules and practice, and since only Skaddi and Argis knew the way, it was up to the nord to train the man he was fighting. Honor kept him from sabotaging Arthur, and no one was worried that he would trick him or pull a sly move. Nord brawls were fairly straight forward once you knew the basics, and she knew, the moment she returned, the fight would be scheduled.

            It was something that Skaddi looked forward to.

            The Primair was docked and ready with Reagan and Danse already locked in and their packs stored so they were easy to retrieve if needed before landing. Skaddi turned to Arthur one last time and smiled at him. “Don’t miss me too much.”

            “Very funny,” he offered a smile and held up her knapsack. It was heavy –all of her daedric armor had been pushed into it– and he sat it down quickly on the vertibird’s floor. “Stay safe. You are more important than those nukes,” he looked into the ‘bird, “ _All_ of you are more important than the nukes.”

            “Don’t worry about us, Elder, we’ll return in tact with the site secured,” Reagan said, her voice showing a smile.

            “Affirmative,” Danse agreed from the other side of the ‘bird.

            Maxson nodded and took Skaddi’s hand, squeezing it. “I will see you upon your return.”

            “Aye,” she climbed into the Primair and buckled into her seat, then looked at the person sitting in the co-pilot’s chair. It was a man, thin like Glass, but taller. Michael was talking to control and then addressed the other man as ‘Holmes’. Holmes confirmed and then the ‘bird started up, shaking as it came to life. Skaddi smiled at Arthur as the Primair dropped and took off, headed southwest.

 

 

            Waypoint Echo was less than a day’s flight with Michael piloting, but he could not fly in the Glowing Sea blind, which meant they had to go on foot –explaining why getting to the nukes would take over a day. The Primair landed beside the camp, giving them enough space so the winds kicked up around the ‘bird wouldn’t disturb them.

            Skaddi got out first and then the suits. Then Glass and Holmes helped unload the supplies onto the power armor so they could take it up to the camp.

            Skaddi lifted a brow at the Lancer-Sergeant and said, “How are things without Lancer O’Conner?”

            He scoffed, “She was a decent pilot, but she was in it for the wrong reasons. She got comfortable and pushed all her limits,” then he sighed and took off his helmet, tossing it onto his chair to run his fingers through his orange hair and work out the helmet-flat. “It’s partly my fault. She was assigned to me when I finished the Primair and was promoted to Lancer-Sergeant, so I thought we might as well be close friends. She just… was bad about separating friends and coworkers, and it bit her in the ass. I don’t feel sorry for her. I mean… demoted to squire is a bit rough, but,” he shrugged and then stepped down and swung a bag over his shoulder to help carry it up the hill, “At least she’s still in the Brotherhood.”

            “Aye, I think it was fair in the end.”

            “Yeah,” he sighed and nodded for her to take the lead. “I’m sorry for what she did to you. I should have said something when she boasted about it, but… she’d already been punished, I didn’t think about the lying to Elder bit. I’m happy Danse is quick on his feet that way.”

            Skaddi smiled at the Lancer-Sergeant and nodded, “Danse is a good man.”

            “He really is, I’ve known him about as long as Reagan, but,” he shrugged, “Different paths and all, I don’t know him as well. But we’ve always gotten along well enough.”

            “How did you get to know Reagan so well?”

            “She was a Lancer to start, and then… switched, and then switched back, and then,” he smiled, “Switched back again. It’s kind of funny, honestly. But she and I trained together. I’m older, so I was ahead of her, but I was going to ask her to be my co-pilot when she graduated.” He scratched at the back of his head and narrowed his green eyes, “She had a falling out with my brother, they were together for most of our childhood, but he’s a dick. And I can’t say that I’m sad about it. She’s too good for him.” Michael shrugged, “Anyway, her and Danse are a given. Anyone who knows them knows they’re perfect for each other, they balance well.”

            Skaddi grinned and looked up at the suits. They were stepping out to talk to a scribe who was operating a terminal and… radio? She thought that was what it was called. “Aye,” she said and then turned back to Michael. “Will you be staying until our return?”

            “Yeah, unless I’m called back to the Prydwen, but I doubt that, with you here and all.” He chuckled and she didn’t have to ask what that meant.

            There was a reason that Skaddi –a non-Brotherhood member– got Danse and Reagan –two of Arthur’s best soldiers– as guards and Glass –the best available pilot– to fly her around. He wasn’t going to risk her any more than he had to.

            The scribe that was talking to the soldiers was Scribe Haylen from the Police Station. Skaddi smiled at her and she eyed the Dragonborn in return.

            “Hey, look at you, that one of the Elder’s uniforms?” she lifted a brow and Reagan chuckled when Skaddi flushed.

            “Yes it is,” the Knight rustled the Dragonborn’s hair and then threw an arm around her shoulder. “We finally found out what kind of women our Elder likes. Just have to fish ‘em out of another world.”

            Haylen chuckled and nodded. “Well, I’m happy for you. Rhys is doing well, by the way,” she added and Skaddi smiled.

            “That’s good, he is a good man.”

            “He is, once you get passed all that hard headed, die hard,” she smiled and then gestured to a tent behind her. “You three can sleep there for tonight, in the morning we’ll go back over the plan.”

            After they got their supplies tied to the power armor appropriately and had their plans for the morning worked out, the three of them went to the tent to settle in for the night. It was early, though, and Skaddi couldn’t force herself to settle down and go to sleep. The two soldiers seemed to, though, and it drifted her off into a near-sleep feeling.

            Until there was a quiet sound of movement and hushed voices.

            Skaddi kept still and tried to maintain her breathing. It sounded like Haylen was talking to Danse. She couldn’t work out what they were saying, but when she peaked her eyes open, she saw the Scribe embrace the Paladin. Skaddi frowned at how she hung on him, her body language… too familiar.

            The Skaal’s jaw tightened and she narrowed her gaze at the woman. Danse pushed her back and shook his head at her. She and he shared distressed looks and then he said, “I can’t now. Not with Reagan here… and Ice-Hunter.” His hands balled into fists and she grabbed his arm.

            “Please, Danse?”

            His breathing was uneven and he looked away from her. “I’ll stay back when we secure the nukes.”

            “All right,” the Scribe held his arms and then stepped away from him. Danse came back to the tent and climbed in. He crawled over to Reagan and frowned, pressing a kiss into her cheek and brushed some of her hair from her face. Skaddi frowned at him and watched him settle into his own bedroll rather than beside her how he had been.

            Guilt was near obvious on the Paladin’s face as he tried to fall back asleep. He was keeping something from them, and she had a feeling it was going to lead to him lying. Her jaw tightened and her fists balled up.

            What could it be?

            The only thing she could think was that it had to do with his relationship with Haylen. Was he… no, Danse wouldn’t be unfaithful.

            No. That… couldn’t be it.

            But what else would he keep from them? Especially Reagan?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooooh noooooooo!


	25. When Love is Gone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> FEELS! SO MANY FEELS! No smut. None, sorry, but this is a time for PLOT AND FEELS!  
> Is Danse... /gasp/ cheating?  
> Is there something else happening?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When Love is Gone ~The Muppet Christmas Carol

            Skaddi didn’t like how Haylen and Danse kept sharing nervous glances. It got to the point she stood between them, and forced the Paladin into a conversation. He was… distracted. Even when he was talking, he wasn’t… normal.

            Reagan noticed too, and by the time they had finished preparing to leave, she had chewed through a layer of skin on her lip and was picking at her fingernails. Skaddi watched Danse climb into his armor and then step up to Haylen again, speaking softly to her without his helmet on.

            Her jaw tightened and the Skaal went to the Knight. Reagan was rechecking her armor and making sure the bags tied to it were stable.

            “Something’s wrong with Danse,” Skaddi said and Reagan stiffened and squeezed her eyes shut.

            “I was really hoping I had imagined it.”

            “Do you have any idea what it is?” Skaddi lifted a brow and Reagan blinked, looking up at the sky. Moisture lined her lower eyelid.

            “Um… I mean, we went to bed holding each other last night and I woke up to him on the other side of the tent…? So…” she cleared her throat and shook her head. “I… I don’t know, I’ve never seen him act like this, he’s so… distracted. Danse doesn’t… get distracted.” She shook her head and looked at Skaddi. “Have I… have I said anything? Recently? Do you think I’ve upset him?”

            The Dragonborn’s brows pulled together, “Why would you say that?”

            “I mean… maybe he’s regretting starting things with me. We did just… jump in head first to this,” she looked over her shoulder at the Paladin and bit down on her lip hard. “Fuckin’ Haylen…”

            “What’s wrong with Haylen?”

            “She had I… never really saw eye to eye. She liked Rhys, and Rhys and I would…” she cleared her throat and shrugged. “Rhys wasn’t interested in a relationship, and I didn’t like him like that, so we just messed around, but we weren’t quiet about it and Haylen knows. She’s kind of hated me since, because I would go after someone I knew she liked, or because I could actually get him, I don’t know, but she and I just kind of….” Her darkened eyes darted back over to the Scribe and Paladin. “He… wouldn’t…”

            “Reagan,” Skaddi took her shoulder and the Knight looked over at her with red-rimmed eyes. “What makes you think he would regret starting a relationship with you?”

            She sniffed and grabbed her power armor for stability. “I… I don’t know, because he’s… he’s so _good_ , you know? And I’m all fucked up. I’m just problem after problem, and he’s so…” she shook her head and Skaddi frowned. “We’ve been together what? A few weeks? We’re already trying for a baby and talking about getting married?” she forced a humorless laugh and shook her head.

            “You have known each other for most of your lives, aye?” Skaddi touched her shoulder and looked at her face as she bent over, her arms still on the power armor for support. “In Skyrim, we do not normally court for long periods of time before marrying. In fact, sometimes you do not court at all, and skip right into the marriage.”

            “Hah, what’s the divorce rate?” Reagan lifted a brow.

            “Divorce? Um,” Skaddi frowned, “I… don’t think any but kings and nobles take part in such a… hurtful process. And even then, it is rare.”

            Reagan lifted her head and narrowed her brows, “So you guys just… marry each other and everything works out?”

            “Marriage is an agreement, even if it is not always the happiest, it is up to the couple to maintain and treat the agreement with respect. If I would not have come here… I would have…” she swallowed and then shrugged. “I would have married Argis, and we would have had children. He would make a great husband and father.”

            “So why didn’t you marry him?” Reagan lifted an eyebrow and Skaddi frowned.

            “I wasn’t ready. I was trying to save the world from a dragon seeking to consume it,” she shrugged and Reagan nodded.

            “That’s a pretty good reason.”

            “What’s a good reason?”

            They both looked up at Danse and Reagan straightened up, “Why she waited to get married. Can we talk?” she tilted her head and Danse frowned. His creamy brown eyes flicked away, then back down at her.

            “Of course, can we talk when we head out?”

            “Sure,” Reagan turned and opened her armor, stepping up into it.

            Skaddi narrowed her eyes. Danse wasn’t wearing his helmet, but he didn’t notice that Reagan was about to cry? That her honey eyes were red and her face was flushed? Her jaw tightened and she watched as he flipped his helmet and then pushed it down onto his head, locking it in place.

            Reagan turned and then looked down at Skaddi. “You should take two Rad-Xs now and then when we get in there one every hour.”

            “Aye,” she took out the pills from the pouch on her hip. Her gauntlets made it a little awkward, but she managed. And then they were off, into the Glowing Sea.

 

 

            Reagan lost her nerve to confront Danse about what was wrong with him. He ended up several paces ahead of them, and Reagan spoke to Skaddi in a hushed voice, making shy comments about worrying about upsetting him, or driving him away. Danse wasn’t good at talking about feelings, he hadn’t even told Reagan he loved her in so many words. She knew he cared, he said so much, but it was like the Fancy Lads, he used words that he could use on other things, like his power armor.

            Reagan was trying not to get too emotional, and it seemed really hard for her. Skaddi was surprised how quickly she shifted back and forth, and seemed so… down on herself.

            They decided to camp in a cave they found that went deep enough that the radiation seemed to be nearly nonexistent. Skaddi was happy when her skin stopped prickling and her stomach calmed down. She was pretty sure she was going to throw up the can of cram she ate to break her fast.

            Reagan ejected from her power armor and stumbled some, grabbing the handle on the back to steady herself. Danse stepped out and looked at her.

            “Knight, are you okay?” he came forward and she waved him off.

            “Yeah, I just… feel sick,” she gagged and turned away from him and her power armor to throw up. “I’m sure it’s just the rads….”

            Danse immediately went to their bags and rifled through them until he got what he was looking for. Skaddi stepped up and cast her healing spell on Reagan, but she didn’t have much radiation in her. It wasn’t an illness making her throw up.

            The Paladin cracked open a water and handed it to her, standing close as he helped her tip it back. She held onto him and squeezed her eyes shut as she gulped it down. When she finished, she looked up at him and tightened her grip on his shoulder. “What’s wrong?” she asked him and he frowned.

            “What’re you talking about?” He started to pull away, letting her take the water and started to fiddle with a radaway.

            Skaddi started saying, “She doesn’t need that,” as Reagan said, “That, right there, you being weird.”

            Danse looked up at the both of them and then settled his heavy brows down on his darkening eyes. “I am not being weird.”

            “You are, Danse,” Reagan’s brows came together and she gripped her water tighter so the can bent some. “You won’t even look me in the eyes, what the hell?”

            “Stand down, Knight.”

            “You’re going to pull rank on me now?” she asked, her voice going high and Danse stiffened, his nose wrinkling as he glared at her power armor. He was avoiding her, and it upset Skaddi just as much as it did Reagan –well, almost.

            “We have a mission to complete, Knight. This is _not_ the time to discuss personal matters.”

            “When the hell are we going to discuss it then? Do I need to strip my uniform and fuck you for you to talk about it?” she snapped and immediately began to cry.

            Danse dropped the radaway and stepped toward her. Her hand gripped the water can tighter and it crack, slicing her hand, and then fell to the ground. “No, Reagan,” he breathed and brushed her hair from her face to see her eyes as she sobbed and used the back of her hands to wipe at them.

            Skaddi didn’t move, letting them figure out what they were going to do.

            “I’m sorry,” the Knight cried out, her voice high and breaking. “I’m so sorry for anything that I’ve done… I’ll do better….”

            “You haven’t done anything, Reagan,” Danse whispered and tilted her face up with a kind thumb on her jaw. “I promise, you haven’t done anything.”

            “Why were you talking to Haylen– why were you–whispering?” she choked out. Danse winced and new tears broke through, shaking Reagan. “No… no…” she whispered and started to shake her head against Danse’s hold.

            “Reagan, no,” he stepped even closer so he was pressed to her and she pushed against him, her hands on his chest, the blood staining his flight suit.

            “You and­–Haylen? Danse…” she coughed and tried to pull away. “Why _her_?!”

            “There’s nothing between Haylen and I, Reagan, I would _never_ do that to you,” he tried to be gentle and pull her back but he was shaking and she was fighting him.

            “Then what? What were you whispering about?” she snapped and looked at him with her red-rimmed, too dark, honey eyes.

            “I… can’t…” he breathed and all of the strength holding Reagan up dissipated and she fell to the ground. “Reagan–”

            Skaddi stepped forward and pushed him back. “Let her be, if you’re not going to help ease her mind,” she growled and the Paladin stepped back, his brows hard as they hung over his eyes. Then the Dragonborn turned to her friend and knelt down, holding up her healing spell. “Reagan, just take some deep breaths.”

            She whimpered and curled into a ball. The Knight was shaking with her sobs and actually lashed out when Skaddi touched her. The Skaal stood and took a step back and decided to let the woman have some space. She turned to the Paladin and pointed for him to start walking. He did and she followed behind him out toward the cave’s mouth.

            When they were nearly back outside, she stopped and looked at the man hard. “What are you doing to her?”

            “I don’t want to hurt her.”

            “Then don’t and tell her what’s wrong, what’s making you act this way,” she waved at him and Danse’s jaw set.

            “I’m not acting differently.”

            “You are, you won’t look at those who you’re speaking with, and you’re nervous. What have you done, Paladin?”

            He shook his head. “I have done nothing, Ice-Hunter.”

            “My name is Skaddi. Use that name, not one of my titles,” she said and put her hands on her hips. “You are not lying now. I haven’t seen you lie yet, which means you haven’t been unfaithful to her, and I cannot think of another thing that would cause you to keep something from her –which I can tell you are. So, I suggest you go back to how you were before speaking to Scribe Haylen. I am not sure what caused this, but she is not well, and it’s only getting worse. I don’t know what’s wrong with her, but it is _not_ radiation.”

            Danse’s fists drew up and he nodded once. “I would like to go to her.”

            “No, stay here until she’s calmed down,” Skaddi glared at him and then turned her back on him and went back to her friend.

 

 

            Skaddi woke up to the sound of Danse crying out and jerking forward. She started and rolled over to look at him as Reagan quickly went to his feet, looking him over carefully before grabbing some water and then settling in beside him. He whispered words that Skaddi couldn’t hear, and Reagan shook her head and handed him the water, sitting still at his side until he slowed his breathing.

            Then she reached up and brushed some hair from his forehead and he kissed her palm. She whimpered and Danse shook his head, circling his large arm around her. He apologized over and over and Reagan cried into his chest.

            Skaddi didn’t move, she only watched them. They ended up lying back down, holding each other. It comforted the Dragonborn some, hopefully they had figured out what was wrong. She didn’t particularly mind as long as they were both happy and it wasn’t something that could endanger the Brotherhood.

            When Skaddi woke again it was because Reagan was shaking her shoulder gently. Her pale eyes landed on the soft honey of the Knight’s gaze and she lifted a brow. The woman smiled and then helped her up.

            “Come on, it’s time to get going, the sun will be up soon and we have a long trek to the Sentinel’s Site.”

            Then the Knight handed over a packet of food and the Skaal took it, looking around. “Where’s Danse?”

            “He went outside to check the perimeter.”

            “How are things?”

            Reagan’s smile wavered but she cleared her throat and shrugged. “He won’t tell me what’s wrong, but he says it’s just something he’s not ready to talk about and he’ll get there. There… are a few things like that with him,” she lifted a single shoulder this time. “It’s part of being a soldier. Some times you just can’t talk about some things. It… really messes with you, and you need to open up in your own time. I… I still haven’t told him all I want to, what happened with Jacob…. He knows that Jacob hurt me, but that’s it,” she sighed and rubbed her forehead. “I love and trust him. I’m just trying to quiet all the doubting voices in my head.”

            Skaddi nodded and helped her finish packing up the bedrolls and loading them onto Reagan’s armor. Then they headed out to meet Danse and start south for the Sentinel’s Site.

 

 

            The architecture of this world would forever amaze Skaddi. She looked over the railing to see a countless number of levels before the bottom. The dust in the air left a haze and it was hard to see if there was anything down below. It also didn’t help there was a quite loud siren running, buzzing her ears and making her spine crawl.

            They had made it to the Sentinel’s Site by about midday, thought you couldn’t see the sun through the green clouds outside. It was just brighter in general as opposed to night.

            “I’ll jump down, you and Skaddi find a way to turn that alarm off,” Reagan said and before Danse could stop her she stepped up onto the railing, causing it to bend under her weight, and then fell.

            Danse sighed. “She’s going to get herself killed,” but his tone said he was actually smiling, and she wondered if he wished to be the one to have jumped down.

            Skaddi followed behind the Paladin down the stairs into the metal doors he had to open by hitting a button on the wall. They swung open without being touched, and Skaddi stared at them carefully. Danse seemed unaffected by it, though so she kept close to him. A few times he stopped to kneel in front of a terminal and see if he could use it to turn off the alarm, but they were all broken. Until they got to the bottom.

            Danse ejected himself from his power armor and sat down at the machine. He made a few grumbling comments under his breath and leaned in to see the screen a little better. “I hate computers,” he grunted and then tapped something and the alarm shut off.

            “It looks like you got it,” she said comfortingly and he nodded, sighing. His face was twisted and he looked uncomfortable.

            Once Danse was in his armor, they joined Reagan who was stomping the heads of feral ghouls into the rock ground. She turned to look at them and then grabbed her laser rifle from her thigh and held it up, taking point.

            “I saw some shadows move up ahead. Be ready for more ferals.”

            She was right. There was a cluster of them around a bend in the tunnel they went down. Reagan and Danse opened fire, the red beams flashing down the tunnel, severing the limbs of the ghouls. Both suits of armor continued forward at a steady pace, stepping on whatever was in their way, and Skaddi used her axes on any of those that didn’t die when they got stepped on. Her armor misted, but nothing was coming in contact with it, so the fog was light, and didn’t reach out to any of the dying creatures.

            They came to a few dead ends because of cave-ins, but they ended up at a massive metal gate with a machine standing guard above it.

            “It looks like there’s someone up there,” Reagan started up the stairs and then paused in front of a dead body. “Children of Atom…”

            Danse made a disgusted noise and followed her up the stairs, but they both avoided stepping on the man’s body, unlike with the ghouls. Then Reagan opened the door and stepped inside, her weapon raised.

            Skaddi followed close, but knelt down to check the body of the man.

            “…walk on Atom’s hallowed ground,” came a voice she did not know.

            “I’m looking for some bombs,” Reagan said and Danse shifted in his armor, his weapon lifted. Skaddi stood and came in. “Nuclear bombs.”

            “The Children of Atom have sworn to guard this place until the time of the Great Divide. None shall enter.”

            Reagan lowered her weapon and tucked it into its place on her power armor’s thigh. “Trust me, I’m on your side here. I want to help you out,” she offered.

            “Atom has no need of help from non-believers.” Skaddi shifted so she could see the man talking. He was an older thing with no hair on his face or head, not even eyelashes or eyebrows. “When He returns to us, these relics will carry his Word and his Glory to all corners of the earth. That is why must be safeguarded.”

            Reagan nodded and then stepped forward, but a robot beside the man shifted and its eye began to glow. The soldier kept back. “I want to spread his, uh… glory,” she started and then sighed. “Look the bombs will get used –on non-believes far worse than us, okay? Isn’t that what you want?”

            The man’s skeptical brow perked up and he nodded once. “It seems I have misjudged your intentions. I will open the gate. Follow the brilliance of the Glow, and it shall lead you to the relics. May Atom’s radiance warm your soul.”

            Reagan nodded and backed up a step. Danse lowered his gun and put it on his thigh like the Knight had and turned to Skaddi who now blocked the door.

            She cleared her throat and backed up, going down the steps and around to the gate as it cracked open. Immediately she could feel the radiation and took a step back. “Oh my,” she whispered and Reagan stepped up, then paused. Skaddi could faintly hear the clicking from the inside of her suit –it did that whenever she was around radiation.

            Danse continued forward, ignoring the radiation and took his pack from his side and opened it. Then he pulled out a box shaped thing and sat it down.

            “What’s that?” Skaddi lifted an eyebrow.

            “Oh, it sends out a signal for the team to latch onto and find us. Then the ‘birds can actually come get us this way. It was just too dangerous until we knew for sure where this place was,” Reagan answered and Skaddi nodded.

            “So we don’t have to walk back?”

            “Nope, the moment he turns it Waypoint Echo will catch our signal and Michael should be here in less than an hour.”

            “You two should go outside and make sure there is a safe place for Glass to land,” Danse came back forward and Reagan’s helmet tilted up toward him.

            “You’re not coming with us?”

            “I can’t. Before we left Haylen informed me that Maxson ordered me to stay behind and keep an eye on these shells until their tested, loaded, and shipped out.” His voice was sad, but it was… off, and Reagan picked up on it.

            “That doesn’t sound like a job for you, Danse, it sounds like Scribe’s work.”

            Danse sighed and his helmet bowed slightly, making the suit look down at her some. “I have my orders, Knight. And you have yours. Go outside and secure a place for Glass to land, and then go report our success to Maxson.”

            Skaddi looked up at Reagan who was deathly still. Then her helmet nodded ever so slightly. “Yes. Paladin. To Victory,” she breathed and backed up, before turning and heading back the way they’d come.

            Skaddi followed behind her, but glanced back to see the power armor stand with its head bowed forward, looking as sad as a suit could.

            He had just lied to them.

            Paladin Danse had just lied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh shit, there went my heart.


	26. In Love and In Trouble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skaddi and Reagan get back to the Prydwen and have a little talk with Maxson.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In Love and In Trouble ~Mulan 2

            Reagan didn’t say anything for a very long time. Not when they left the massive building, or when they killed the feral ghouls and gigantic bugs that attacked them, not when they waited for an hour, just standing in the radiation, when the deathclaw attacked… or when Michael finally appeared and asked about the mission, about Danse, about them, and why she wasn’t answering. Skaddi did her best to give sufficient answers to the pilot, but she kept looking at the suit of power armor beside her, locked into place.

            When they docked at the Prydwen a little over a day later, the sky was dark, throwing rain down hard enough that Michael almost had trouble locking his ‘bird in. Skaddi wasn’t worried, and Reagan didn’t even move her head. Her suit looked dead. The body lax like when the yellow thing in the back was removed.

            When the vertibird was quiet and still Glass turned around and frowned, pulling his helmet off and tossing it into his seat. Then he climbed back to stand in front of Skaddi and look at Reagan when she started to unlock from the platform.

            He didn’t say anything, and jumped out, offering a hand to Skaddi to help her down. She politely accepted it, though her armor would keep him from really catching her if she fell.

            They both immediately went up to the main deck, though Skaddi saw Maxson standing at the Command Deck, leaning on his railing, looking out the windows at the Commonwealth below as water poured down the panes. She wanted to get out of her armor, and then she would come to him.

            Reagan took her power armor to the bay, and when Skaddi finished changing back into one of the Elder’s flight suits, she joined her there and saw she was crying. A couple of others tried to talk to her, but she just shook her head. One soldier rested his hand on her shoulder and she grabbed it, twisted it, and spun him around, letting him fall to the ground with his own loss of stability.

            “Reagan,” Skaddi breathed and she turned on her, a tool in her hand from where she’d begun working on her power armor. “We must speak with Maxson.”

            The Knight wet her chapped lips and tossed the tool onto a cart. “He lied to me, Skaddi. I’ve heard it before, but never like this. He’s… he’s never lied to me before,” she growled and the nord nodded.

            “Let us speak with Arthur about it.”

            Reagan took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah… Artie’ll clear shit up.” The soldier pushed passed Skaddi and started walking toward the ladder. The Dragonborn followed.

            As they approached Maxson straightened and turned around to look at them. He wore the heaviest glare Skaddi had ever seen and it made her freeze in place at the door. Reagan continued forward and met his glare with her own.

            “Is there anything you wish to tell me, _Knight_?” he growled, his nose wrinkling, and Skaddi felt a wave of confusion wash over her. The way he said it, he was calling her by rank, making sure whatever response he got was not one of her usual games.

            Reagan’s eyes narrowed into slits and she stood straighter, allowing her body to fall into the attention stance. “The mission was a success, we secured the bombs and–”

            “Don’t patronize me, Knight, this has nothing to do with your mission.”

            “Then what are you talking about?” she said, her voice just a little too harsh.

            “Proctor Quinlan completed the decryption of the data Mr. Briars retrieved from the Institute. A portion of his findings included a list of synths that went missing or escaped from their underground facility. After careful analysis of the information, we’ve discovered something… unprecedented.” Reagan’s whole body was stiff, and Skaddi didn’t know why. Arthur’s words were going right over her head, but whatever it was, scared Reagan. “Paladin Danse is a perfect match for one of the synths on that list.”

            Skaddi could actually see Reagan’s legs shake. “The data must­–!” she started to shout and stopped herself, starting over after clearing her throat, tears starting down her cheeks. “The data must be faulty.”

            “The findings have been validated by multiple sources. Quinlan wouldn’t have brought this to me if he wasn’t one hundred percent certain of the results. The data included a record of each subject’s DNA. As you know, we keep the same information on file for all of our soldiers. Paladin Danse’s DNA is a perfect match for a synth they called ‘M7-97’. To make matters worse, he’s gone AWOL. Disappeared without a trace,” as he spoke, Reagan flinched and let out a hard breath as if she’d been punched, but kept as straight as she could. “His sudden absence simply reinforces our conclusion that ‘M7-97’ and Paladin Danse are one in the same. I’m finding it difficult to believe, given your relationship, that he never confided in you and then swore you to secrecy.” Maxson’s voice was hard and his glare even. He never even looked at Skaddi, only kept those steel eyes locked on Reagan’s still recovering honey ones.

            The Knight’s jaw was tense. She started shaking her head, “I can’t believe you, Arthur, after everything that we’ve been through –that I’ve done for the Brotherhood. This is my family, you don’t think that if I knew this I wouldn’t have told you?” she snapped at him, tears running down her cheeks.

            “Your feelings for it could have misguided you into thinking it wasn’t a threat.”

            Reagan shifted, looking like she was weak on her legs. “‘It’?” she gagged and turned away from him. “I would never endanger the Brotherhood, Maxson,” the Knight looked back up at him her hands in tight fists. “I didn’t know.”

            He looked her over and then nodded once. “I have decided to take you at your word, Knight. However, that doesn’t absolve you of your duty. Danse is a synth. The representation of everything we hate… a monstrosity of technology,” Maxson turned to look out into the rain and then back at Reagan. “Our mission in the Commonwealth is clear. The Institute and its creations need to be destroyed in order to preserve mankind’s future. Which leaves me facing the most difficult order I’ve ever given.”

            “No, Arthur, don’t,” Reagan breathed, stepping forward.

            “I am ordering you, and any other Brotherhood soldier, to kill Danse on sight.” Her knees went out and she hit the ground. For as strong as the woman was, Danse was the point in her armor that could always bring her to her knees. “I will have a team assembled and Danse will be hunted down and executed –unless he shows himself before then.”

            “No,” the Knight shook her head, looking up at him. “No, you’re not going to ‘assemble a team’. You’re going to send me, and only me, and I’m going to get him and bring him here so we can _talk about this_ ,” Reagan stood back up and glared into her Elder’s eyes.

            “Stand down, Knight.”

            “Arthur, I love you, and I respect you, but if you take this from me, I will put you on your ass and I will steal a ‘bird.”

            “I can have you imprisoned for that threat, Knight.”

            “Then do it, because that’s the only way you’re stopping me, Maxson. You are my Elder, my friend, a Brother to me in steel. I would kill and die for you. But Danse is just the same and more, and if the roles were reversed, I would demand to be the one to seek you out.”

            Arthur’s steel eyes searched her face and he stepped up to look her square in the eyes. “Do you know where he is?”

            “No, but I can find him.”

            “Listen,” he spoke clearly. “I’m not blind to the fact that Danse was your mentor, and love, and this isn’t an easy burden to bear. But if we’re to remain strong, we can’t afford to make exceptions… even when it means executing one of our own. If you find him, Reagan, you put him down. Do not bring him back here.”

            Skaddi watched the woman’s face carefully. The tears stopped and her body was like a statue. “Yes, Elder.”

            Both Skaddi and Maxson blinked at the woman, but he narrowed his eyes further, “Find Proctor Quinlan. He’s been analyzing the data and should be able to provide you with a starting point.”

            “Respectfully, sir, I wish to start by questioning the remains of Recon Squad Gladius, Knight Rhys and Scribe Haylen.”

            Maxson shifted, and nodded once, “Very well.”

            “Thank you, Elder. To Victory,” she saluted him and waited for him to return it before turning on her heels and starting for the ladder.

            Skaddi looked back at the Elder and stepped up to him. “What’s going on? Why are you sentencing Danse to death?”

            Arthur took hold of her upper arms and looked into her face, pain taking over his features. “Danse is a synth–”

            “I’ve seen those, they have white… plastic faces, they are robots. Danse is not one of them,” she started and he shook his head.

            “There are more kinds, ones that look human, I’ve told you about them.”

            “But I’ve healed Danse, I cannot use magic on nonliving beings,” she felt tears spring up in his eyes and he nodded.

            “The Institute made machines out of human flesh. Within Danse’s brain is a computer, like in all the other synths, and that’s what makes him dangerous. Even if he didn’t know, even if he was…” he stopped himself and cleared his throat. “It can be changed given the right technology. Danse can be told what to do against any will it perceives it has.”

            “I… don’t understand.”

            Arthur nodded and dropped his hands. “Do you have robots in Skyrim?”

            “Not like yours. The dwemer created machines… spiders and spheres and centurions.”

            “And they can be told what to do, yes?”

            “I’m not sure,” she frowned, “They attack anything they find that is not another machine.”

            “Okay, the synths are the same, but the Institute are… like the dwemer,” he explained. “The Institute is the only one who can tell the synths what to do. All of them, the ones with metal bones and faces all the way to the ones that look human, like Danse.”

            “All right,” she frowned. “But Danse follows only your orders, and fights for you, Arthur.”

            “Yes, for now,” he frowned, his nose wrinkling and she thought she saw the hint of moisture at the corner of his eye. “But all the Institute has to do is learn he is with us, and they can retake control over him, make him turn against us, hurt us from the inside….”

            “Danse would never,” Skaddi stepped forward, grabbing his arm and he nodded.

            “That might be true, but he wouldn’t be able to stop himself, Skaddi. They would _make_ him.” He flinched and sighed, “It.”

            Skaddi looked down at his chest and felt her mind race. She didn’t understand how someone could make Danse, _Danse_ of all people hurt the Brotherhood. “He would never… I saw him, at the Castle with Ronnie Shaw, when she started to speak ill of the Brotherhood.”

            “Skaddi,” Maxson held her shoulders and then moved one hand to her jaw to make her look up at him. “It would have no choice. At all. It wouldn’t even think about resisting. That’s what makes them dangerous. They look so human, act like it, and even think they are, but they aren’t.”

            “Then we destroy the Institute, so they can’t command him,” she pointed out and Arthur nodded.

            “I wish it were that easy.”

            Skaddi stepped closer and pressed her face into his chest. “What if you are a synth?”

            He stiffened and said, “I would ask to be killed.”

            She nodded and took a deep breath. “And if I were a synth?”

            “I would kill you myself, Skaddi,” he held her tighter and she felt his breathing pick up. One of his hands held her head against his peck and she could hear his heart race. “I love you, I couldn’t let anyone else do it. I would make it quick and painless if I could.”

            “A blade,” she whispered and his breathing caught.

            “What?”

            “If you must kill me, use a blade, don’t use a gun on me,” she shook her head and circled her arms around his waist under his coat. “With a blade it is personal. You’re close, and the one you’re killing can see you. A gun is… a coward’s weapon.”

            She felt him kiss her hair and reached behind his back. “I wouldn’t have used a gun.” Skaddi looked down as he pulled out a long knife she’d seen in his coat a few times, but he’d never pulled out. “This is the knife I used on the deathclaw I killed when I was younger.”

            Skaddi nodded and let her fingers trace the flat of its side. “An honorable blade for an honorable death. If you had to kill Danse you would use this on him, aye?”

            “Yes.”

            She nodded and swallowed hard, her mind racing.

 

 

            The next morning, Skaddi stood beside Reagan as the woman paced the length of the room. The medic, Cade, sighed from where he sat behind his desk. “Please, Knight, take a seat, you still have two minutes before the test will be completed.”

            The soldier stopped and shot a heavy glare at the man who turned his attention back to the papers he was filling out. Skaddi frowned and then looked at Reagan.

            “Do you think you’re…?” the Skaal lifted a brow and the Knight turned to her.

            “I have no idea. He’s a synth, so probably not, right?” she tossed her arms up into the air and then folded them under her breasts and started to pace again. “I guess it’s a good thing we found out now instead of thought that there was something wrong with us later…. We would have gotten married and tried and tried and tried and no babies…” she shook her head and ran her fingers through her hair, pulling on it some.

            “A lot of couples cannot have children,” Skaddi pointed out. There was a woman in her tribe that had been barren and they adopted a little girl when her parents were killed on a hunting trip when a bull netch attacked the party. They had been so happy and loved her as if she had been born to them. Skaddi wanted as many children as she was able and knew that, if her husband was okay with it, she would be willing to adopt as well as birth them.

            “I would have assumed something was wrong with me…. He would have assumed something was wrong with him….” Reagan kept running her fingers through her hair and Skaddi thought she saw the roots of it were pale, almost like they were blonde rather than the chestnut brown that the rest was. “We never would have known that it was because we just couldn’t–”

            “The test is complete,” Cade stood up and Reagan froze, looking back at the Knight-Captain doctor.

            “And…?” she slowly stepped closer to the medic.

            Cade looked down at the tool in his hand, then frowned, and straightened to meet Reagan’s gaze. “It’s positive. You’re pregnant, Knight.”

            “I’m…” Reagan breathed and her hand touched her stomach.

            “Yes,” Cade’s brows tugged together and he grimaced. “It appears third generation synths can impregnate human women. This is assuming you have had _no_ other sexual partners?”

            Reagan shook her head, “No, sir.”

            “Then the child was conceived with a synth,” he nodded once and then his features twisted. He looked… disgusted.

            “Don’t look at me like that, Cade. I thought he was human, we all did.”

            “At least it wasn’t a ghoul,” he sighed and then started to clean up his station. “I assume you will want the pregnancy terminated?”

            Reagan gaped at him, “I want no such thing.”

            “Knight, this pregnancy cannot be good for your health,” he frowned and the Knight put her hands on her hips.

            “Sebastian’s DNA might match a synth, but it’s still human DNA, Cade. If it wasn’t you would have started asking questions when he joined the Brotherhood so long ago,” she glared at him. “If he can get me pregnant that just shows that he’s that much more human.”

            “That does not mean it is not a synth, Knight.”

            “Maybe I don’t care about that,” she said suddenly and the Knight-Captain’s grey eyes narrowed.

            “It is a traitor to the Brotherhood, Knight.”

            “Traitor for a biological trait that he cannot help, that’s rich,” Reagan snapped and shook her head. “I’m keeping the pregnancy, have me medically discharged for all I care, but I’m keeping this baby.”

            Skaddi stood up when Reagan left the medbay and started toward the power armor bay. “Reagan?”

            “What?”

            “Are you going to kill Danse?”

            The Knight stopped and looked back at her. “I have my orders,” she said.

            “That isn’t an answer,” Skaddi’s brows pulled together and Reagan sighed.

            “Just stay here, Skaddi, and watch Argis and Arthur fight, and live happily ever after, for me, okay?” she grabbed the Dragonborn’s shoulders and then leaned forward and kissed Skaddi’s forehead. The nord and Elder’s fight had been scheduled to start later that night. Argis was confident that it was going to be a good fight, that Arthur had listened to his teachings and was very quick to learn. “I have a Paladin to track down.”

            “Where will you go?”

            “Haylen knows something, but she won’t tell me, I know she won’t, so I’m going to try Rhys. We… have a good history,” she offered a smile and released Skaddi.

            “Why does it sound like you’re leaving and not coming back?”

            “Skaddi, I’m going up against my mentor. I don’t know if I will be coming back.”

            There was something she was keeping from her, but Skaddi couldn’t tell what it was. The Knight climbed up into the power armor and then it closed, wrapping around her. Then she left, marching down the hall to the ladder and then out to the Flight Deck to catch a vertibird to Cambridge Police Station.

 

 

            “Sugar bombs?”

            Skaddi glanced up from her seat to see Michael and Holmes standing beside her. She’d gotten lost in her thoughts again and then smiled at them politely. “No thank you,” she waved away the box he was holding out to her.

            “Ah, okay,” he turned his green eyes over to the ring and then looked at the two seats beside her that were empty. “These taken?” he asked.

            “No,” she waved for him and his copilot to sit. Michael smiled and sat and then the other man stepped forward.

            “I’m afraid I haven’t had the pleasure. I’m Lancer-Knight Dallas Holmes,” he held out his hand and Skaddi took it, shaking it. He was tall, probably as tall as Danse had been, nearly as all as Arthur, but he was lean, built more like and archer than a warrior. His face was narrow as well, long, but pleasing with a thin layer of rough along his jaw showing he could grow a thick beard if he let it. His hair was styled the same as Arthurs –the same as many Brothers– and was the same dark brown, nearly black color. His eyes were kind, open enough to show his light grey irises, and his brows were high enough to keep from casting them into too dark of shadow. Coming together with high, narrowed cheekbones, thin cheeks, and a strong jaw, he was an attractive man, but far too… imperial for her liking.

            “Skaddi Ice-Hunter, Dragonborn, among other titles.”

            “So I’ve heard,” he tilted his head slightly and freed her grasp.

            “Hopefully only good things,” she glanced at Michael who was chewing on some of the sweet spheres.

            “Only bad thing isn’t yours to be responsible for.”

            “The killing of Lancers Shepard and Fairbanks….”

            “It wasn’t your fault, Ice-Hunter,” he shook his head.

            “Thank you,” she breathed and then looked at Michael again he was looking between them, having stopped chewing. “I like this one better,” she told him and he smirked at her. It was a killer smile, one that surely got him attention.

            “I should have gotten him sooner, I know,” he shrugged and then gestured for Holmes to sit.

            “Have you heard anything from Reagan?” Skaddi asked, shifting conversation.

            “The storm had her ‘bird flying carefully, but she should have landed by now,” he shifted back to relax into his chair and offered some Sugar Bombs to Holmes who dipped his hand in and took a fistful. Then he started to pop them into his mouth one at a time, grey eyes on the mat, and Argis getting his fists wrapped by a knight.

            Arthur was on the other side, speaking with Kells while another knight wrapped his knuckles in the tape. It had been decided while she was gone that they would use the wrap –as the medic had suggested it. Argis allowed it because it wasn’t too much different from wearing a pair of gloves or gauntlets –like one normally does while brawling– and since they were fighting bare chested, and only dressed in the shorts the Brotherhood did their PT exercises in, it made it a little more like the Skyrim fights.

            “I wish that Nate would not have brought that holotape back,” the Dragonborn breathed and Glass sighed.

            “Yeah… but, it’s better this way. He could have really hurt us.”

            Skaddi shook her head but didn’t say anything. She didn’t know how to feel about all of this. All she knew was that Knight Reagan Knight was not going to kill Paladin Danse, and it meant she was going to have to make a decision that could alter everything. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAAAAAaaaaaaahahhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I keep thinking it's coming up AND THEN IT KEEPS GETTING PUSHED BACK! I AM SORRY I AM NOT SORRY!


	27. Do You Want to Build a Snowman?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> BRAWL TIME!  
> DRIVE THAT SNOWBACK TO THE GROUND!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do You Want to Build a Snowman? ~Frozen

            Skaddi always loved watching brawls in Skyrim –though not as much as she enjoyed participating in them. They would go five rounds, each ending only when someone hits the ground, and the moment the first started, she was on her feet, circling the ring instead of sitting in the seat she had beside Michael. Argis and Arthur mirrored each other, since they had trained together, it made sense, and she could tell that the Elder was analyzing every move the nord made to see a shift, or to related it back to their practice.

            The Dragonborn looked them over, they were both very large men, but Argis was bigger, with more muscle mass piled on his shoulders and wiring down his arms to make them half a size larger than Arthur’s. The holotags hung down onto the space between his pecks, pointing to his torso, shielded with the plates muscle on his chest and stomach with sides showing each crease, and a back sculpted by the gods. If one did not have the housecarl standing right in front of Arthur, you could use the same words on him, but his muscles were not so defined.

            The young Elder’s skin was clean from the shower he’d taken before this, but that only made it easier to see the scars along his body and running through the hair of his chest and stomach. Argis’s hair was blonde, so it was harder to see, and did not grow as thickly on his body as the Elder’s did. Since Maxson’s hair was very nearly black, one could see almost every strand on his body, acting as a decoration of the shield of his muscle.

            Arthur had trimmed back his beard, now it was only a little thicker than the one that Paladin Danse wore, but it would grow back quickly, she knew. His hair had also been re-shaved on the sides and back to near-nonexistence and the long locks on top been cropped so that as he moved in the ring it could not fall into his face. Now his scars were easier to see, the deep, jagged one on his right cheek from the deathclaw, reaching up toward his eye, the one on his brow, and his lip.

            How different the nord was.

            Argis’s hair fell to his shoulders in thick, golden locks with it half tied up so as to keep it from his face. The red tattoo on his cheek was bright against his lightly tanned flesh, which made Arthur’s pale skin look even more white. The scar running down his left brow, into his eye, then down onto his face looked so similar to the one on Arthur’s cheek that one could guess it had been made by the same animal. The young Elder had gotten away lucky, though, because the housecarl was blind in that eye.

            And that was how Arthur was going to win this.

            His opponent was bigger, more skilled in the fighting style, and had the advantage of having taught him, so he knew everything that the Elder knew. But Arthur was over ten years younger than the nord, and praised for his brilliance when it came to assessing a situation and executing a plan that would end in his favor.

            Arthur shifted, putting his left side forward, then, and Argis’s eyes narrowed, but a smirk pulled up at his lips. Not many people fought left handed in brawls, even the left-handed men. Skaddi smiled and crossed her arms, pride already swelling in her chest and they had yet to even start throwing punches.

            Argis stood in front of Maxson so that his right side was forward and his left –blind– side was back, but he could see a blow coming toward that side. Both men kept loose, and shifted, allowing the other’s movement to influence them so that it very nearly looked like a dance.

            Then Arthur moved in close, standing right side, forward from Argis. His left foot kicked out at Argis’s shin, causing the nord to react and step back, allowing Maxson to turn his body and make a jab with his left hand. The twist put in more force behind the strike and the Elder got the nord in the jaw.

            Argis caught it well and returned in kind, throwing his fist toward Maxson’s nose, but the Elder deflected, allowing the strike to glide right by and threw in another punch to the nord, getting him in the side this time.

            Skaddi winced. Rib shots were always good, driving out the air from your opponent’s lungs and eventually causing pain anytime they moved and maybe even breaking ribs.

            Argis growled and kicked a foot out to catch the side of Arthur’s knee. The younger man shifted and narrowly missed the strike, but caught the nord’s fist in his collarbone and grunted, throwing out his own hit aimed to give Argis a twin bruise on the other side of his jaw.

            There was a snap of bone, and Skaddi couldn’t tell if it was Argis or Arthur’s. They seemed to either not notice, or care, and kept going. Her breathing had spiked as she watched the two of them, moving so she could always see them both as they turned, striking at the other, landing hard blows on the other, testing each other, and finally–

            Argis jerked forward, right into the punch Arthur was throwing, used his muscled bicep to catch the blow, and throw his arm wide, then grappled the smaller man and started to lift him off his feet. Arthur threw several punches over and over into the nord’s ribs, but it was too late and Argis threw the young Elder over onto his side so he hit the mat hard.

            A loud grunt with a mix of blood and spit left Arthur’s mouth and he nodded, accepting the loss. And then started to stand up, seeming to realize how much pain he was in now. They parted and went to their corners, and Skaddi ran over to Arthur’s side first.

            “You did very well,” she smiled and he nodded.

            “Thank you,” he grunted and touched his shoulder, then seemed to realize his hand was broken. “Ah, that’s why that hurts,” he sighed and Skaddi summoned up her spell.

            “I’ll heal what’s broken, same with him, but I’ll leave some bruise and aches to keep the fight… interesting,” she smirked and he lifted a brow. “Normally, in Skyrim, if there are more than one round, you don’t get healed.”

            “Then don’t heal me.”

            “This isn’t Skyrim, and I’m treating you equally, you can’t fight with a broken hand,” she touched the knuckles and then his shoulder. Once she drew a line down his back to get any other major damage she took back her spell and nodded once. “There. Better, aye?”

            “Yes,” he looked back at her and offered a smile. She liked it, seeing the blood stain his teeth and the bruising start on his pale skin.

            “I want you to know,” she whispered, leaning in closer so only he could hear, “There has never been a time I’ve been so attracted to you.”

            “Really now?” he lifted a brow and she nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

            Skaddi smiled and wiped some sweat from his forehead while a knight stepped up and gave him some water to rinse his mouth. Then she went over to Argis.

            “He’s doing well,” she commented and the nord chuckled, spitting into a bucket that the knight beside him held.

            “Aye, he’s a smart one, Thane. I didn’t teach him how to fight with his left forward.”

            “I told you his men boast about him.”

            “I will not say that I underestimated him,” the housecarl touched one of his teeth and then leaned down so she could heal it back in place, and then work on his injuries, “But I did not think he would move passed my teachings so easily.”

            “I do not fall for just any man,” she said and Argis nodded.

            “He has my blessing, win or lose, but if he wins,” the nord grinned, “I should like to bend my knee to him as well, if it please my Thane. Of course you will always come before him,” he added and Skaddi smiled widely at him and nodded.

            “Of course, Argis.”

            She had spoken with him briefly of the soul gem that could take them home, and he had been pretty firm about staying at her side, as much as he wished to go home, he did not want to leave her side again, and was fairly content with this land. It had brought her comfort, and now she wondered if there really was any need to go back to Skyrim. Argis had not been given the feeling that the world was suffering from an impending danger, but he also wasn’t aware that her homes had been broken into.

            It made her wonder about her other housecarls. What they would do, what they had done? They were all as faithful as Argis, true sons and daughters of Skyrim. She found it hard to believe that they would just _allow_ a thief to come in and take her things.

            A bell rang and Skaddi stepped back from the mat, noticing that the soldiers watching were all standing now and cheering with comments and aid that all turned into a din that was hard to understand. They’d been like this the whole time, but she’d been so focused on the fight she hadn’t noticed.

            Arthur stepped up to Argis, his right side forward, and the nord tilted his head, keeping his good eye forward and watching the younger man.

            This time when the Elder’s strike came, the nord deflected it, and threw a hard punch into his side and got another into his stomach before Arthur could step back. The younger man tossed in a few punches that Argis blocked and in turn deflected a few. Then Arthur switched to put his left side forward and allowed his right fist to come forward.

            As Argis focused on that hit, the Elder’s left came up, swinging low before coming up and connecting with the underside of the nord’s jaw. Before he could recover, her threw his right fist wide to catch his blind side and got him in the cheek. The housecarl grunted and stumbled back, but Arthur kept up the strikes, going lower, at the ribs, over and over, and when Argis started to block, he kicked a leg out at his knee and the man’s leg folded, forcing him to kneel. Then Arthur’s knee came up and snapped Argis’s head back and the nord hit the ground in a rough heap.

            The soldiers went wild and even Skaddi had to cover her mouth to keep from squealing like a child. Arthur glanced over at her and playfully lifted a brow before going back over to his corner and sat in the stool the knight put out for him. This time Skaddi went over to Argis who was starting to get up.

            “Are you all right?”

            “Always, my Thane,” he groaned and touched his jaw with a bloodied hand. “I should have seen it coming. I taught him that move.”

            “Why didn’t you?”

            “Because I taught him how to do it with the right arm, not left,” he shook his head and then landed heavily in his stool. “I’ll have to get rougher with him.”

            “Just don’t break him to where I cannot fix him, please,” she smiled and ran her magic hands over him before he caught her wrist and looked her in the eye.

            “I have been wondering something, Thane. You do not have to answer,” he said and she tilted her head.

            “What is it?”

            “If you would not have come to this land. If you and I had stayed in Tamriel…”

            She nodded, answering his question before he had to ask it. “Yes, we would have, Argis.”

            He bowed his head once and then sighed. “I am happy a man such as he has won you. Not some milk-drinking snowback…”

            Skaddi smirked and thought about MacCready at that. He would not have been okay with the sniper taking his place in her heart. She was happy she did not let herself fall for him.

            The Dragonborn came over to Arthur then and saw a smile spread over his thick lips.

            “You look happy,” she commented and drew her spell over him.

            He looked at her with bright steel blue eyes and shrugged, “It does wonders for a man’s ego to put an opponent on the ground. I have not had the chance to fight like this, sparring is very different.”

            His breathing was quick, but not labored, and he was bouncing his leg as he rested back against the pillar. A knight poured some water into his mouth and he rinsed it before spitting it into the bucket. Skaddi touched his arm, feeling how hot it was and dripped with sweat. “You will wear him out at this rate.”

            “I planned on it,” he nodded and his thick brows drew together, his smile fading. “He’s stronger, but I’m faster, and if I can keep him from getting his arms around me, I can keep on my feet.”

            “Aye,” Skaddi agreed and then reached up and touched his jaw, a very nice bruise was forming there and he tilted his head into her touch, grimacing at the pain of her on the discolored skin.

            “I’ll sleep well tonight,” he grunted and she smiled.

            “And I’ll be at your side.”

            The bell rang and Arthur stood up, his body light as he held his fists up, ready, and moved toward the nord who seemed sluggish and heavy compared to the young Elder.

            Arthur stood with his left forward and Argis grunted, his face twisted into a mix of a grimace and a sneer. Then he came forward a step and kicked out at Arthur’s leg. Instead of moving side to side, the younger man stepped back, surprising Argis, and he came forward. The Maxson skipped toward him and threw his left fist forward, drawing his good eye and making him lift his arm to block.

            Arthur’s right fist came around and he got the Bulwark in the cheekbone below his white eye.

            There was a snap of bones again and the men parted, but Argis stumbled more, and Arthur came right back in, sending in strike after strike to the man’s exposed ribs. The housecarl grunted and blocked best he could, but the Elder got a good hit right into his eye and broke the skin in the brow, causing blood to spill down into it.

            Argis kicked out a leg, but Arthur’s own foot pushed it away, forcing it too far and caused the nord to lose his balance. Then Arthur’s left fist came up on the nord’s jaw, and he spun slightly as he went to the ground.

            Arthur stepped back and shook out his body, going to his stool and Argis took a moment to get back up before doing the same.

            Skaddi went to her man and shook her head, “You were born to the wrong world, Arthur.”

            He chuckled and tipped back some water so it fell into his mouth, then poured some on his face. “No,” he glanced over at her and sighed. “But I think I would enjoy yours.”

            She smiled and healed him, though he did not suffer this round like Argis, and she quickly went to her housecarl.

            “How are you feeling?”

            “Old,” he grunted and allowed her to heal him. “Stick me in armor and hand me my sword and shield and this boy would be dead, but this is a while other kind of fight.”

            “That ‘boy’ uses weapons that would kill you before you reached him with your sword,” she pointed out and he huffed.

            “Craven.”

            “I thought so also, but in this world it is the only way. I would be dead if it was not for my magic. My carved armor, the set I crafted, was destroyed in only three days here.”

            He nodded and looked at her through his swollen eye. “That’s fine, but I still say hand me a sword and deal with my enemy head on.”

            “And he’s proven to you he is willing to do just that,” she smiled and he nodded.

            “Aye, a Son of Skyrim in a land where they seem few and far between.”

            “I hope that you can see him as brother, one day.”

            “You are my Thane, and he is your man,” he answered and stood as the bell rang. “I will pledge to him as I have you, and in time, I may call him brother,” Argis nodded and then stepped up to Arthur.

            The Elder shifted and just when he went in to throw a punch, the nord dipped and threw his arms around him, pinning him against his chest. Arthur tried to get his fists down and around him, but he couldn’t and then the nord threw his face forward and connected his upper forehead with the other man’s nose. There was a crunch, and then Argis dropped Arthur and threw a fist into his rib.

            The next blow came to Arthur’s knee and it snapped it back and he growled a swear as he went down. Argis stepped back and sat down at his stool while a knight jumped in and dragged Arthur back to his corner. Skaddi was hissing at the blood and exposed bone and then filled both hands with healing spells.

            “Ah–fuck,” Arthur barked when the bones snapped back in place and the skin melded.

            “I’m healing it completely,” she said and Maxson shook his head.

            “Leave an ache.”

            She nodded and swallowed hard, looking at the bleeding as it slowed and stopped and then resorted to bruising. When the bruises were almost gone, she looked up at his face and wrinkled her nose at the state of his. “Here,” she reached forward and gingerly touched it. It was pushed in, rather than broken to a side. He hissed and clenched his jaw as she tried to fix it without her spell. Then she sighed and used the magic to bring it back in place.

            Arthur let out a strangled yelp and his legs jerked at the pain of it being drawn forward to fix. “Agh, I haven’t felt that much pain in a long time,” he breathed and squeezed his eyes shut.

            “You are tied. You only need one more round,” she informed him and he looked at her with heavy brows.

            “I need to keep quick, I wasn’t expecting him to come right into me like that.”

            “He might do it again, if he does, remember his blind side,” she warned. “You’ve given him a good bruise over there, the cheekbone was shattered, and it still aches.”

            “I remember,” he nodded, his steel eyes on the man across from him. There was that eternal flame, flaring within him, darkening the blue into slate grey, and giving his features a dangerous edge. It was not life or death, but it was honor or dishonor in his eyes. She had not told him he had won her blessing the moment he showed Argis in the first round he would not go down like a milk-drinker –she felt that was up to the housecarl to inform him. But not only that, his men were watching, and winning against Argis could do wonders for their morale before the upcoming fight with the Institute.

            It would make him an even better leader, bring him up even higher so they could all witness him down an opponent when the odds are against him on most fields. In the end, she wondered which meant more to him: winning the blessing for her hand, or further winning the respect of his men.

            Knowing Arthur, it was probably equally as important, or leaned toward his men. And that made her smile.

            The bell chimed and the men stood up. Argis had not needed her aid this time, and didn’t seem the least bit disturbed that she had not come to check on him.

            Arthur stepped forward, his hands at his side and Argis eyed him before dropping his as well. Then the Elder extended his hand and bowed his head slightly.

            Argis grabbed his forearm tightly and Maxson’s fingers wrapped around the other man’s arm.

            “It’s been an honor,” the younger man breathed.

            “The honor is mine,” the nord replied and then they stepped back and readied themselves.

            Argis threw his fist first. Arthur deflected and his left hand found the bruising in the nord’s side. Argis stepped closer, crowding the smaller man, and kicked his heel out to get his shin.

            Arthur shifted and threw a punch at the man’s face, catch him in the jaw. But Argis drove forward, and instead of backing up, Arthur moved to the side, keeping from letting the nord get his arms around him.

            The Bulwark blocked with the width of his arm as the Elder threw another punch and tried to get under the shield. Then the housecarl jabbed, striking the younger man in the cheek and pulled back with a speed that even Skaddi didn’t expect. Before Arthur could recover, he brought his left fist up again and struck the Elder in the jaw, snapping his head back and sending him to the ground.

            The whole room fell quiet and the blonde took a deep breath, standing over his opponent with a smile wide on his lips.

            “You did very well, better than most nords,” Argis bowed down and offered a bloody hand. Arthur spat blood onto the mat and grabbed the nord’s offer. Heaving up the younger man, the Bulwark smiled wide and patted his shoulder. “Be proud this day. You nearly bested the best.”

            “The best?” Arthur smiled and bowed his head. “Then I am only happy I was able to last so long.”

            Argis nodded and held Arthur around the shoulders with an arm. “You have earned my blessing. Arthur Maxson, descendant of Roger Maxson, the last of his name, to lay claim to the heart of my Thane, Skaddi Ice-Hunter, Skaal, Dragonborn, defeater of Alduin the World Eater, Thane of the Nine Holds of Skyrim, Harbinger of the Companions, leader of the Thieves Guild, Listener of the Dark Brotherhood, champion of Ulfric Stormcloak the true High King, as well as the three daedric princes, Sanguine, Sheogorath, and Nocturnal –if she will have you.”

            Maxson’s chest swelled and then he looked over at Skaddi who was smiling widely, her pale blue eyes bright. “Aye, I accepted this man, should he wish it.”

            Arthur’s steel eyes cooled to blue and he nodded, taking a deep intake of air to steady his breathing, before saying in a clear voice, “I wish to marry her.”

            The room filled with the calls and cheers of the soldiers watching and Skaddi flushed brightly, tears of pride filling her eyes. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAH! Bet you all thought Maxson was gonna win didn't you?!  
> Pfft, sometimes, there is more honor in losing :P  
> Sorry no one actually said 'Drive that snowback to the ground', but it never felt right, and I knew Skaddi wouldn't really 'pick a side' so... this is what I ended up with. xD I hope you enjoyed it and that it was all you hoped it would be –  
> besides maybe Maxson losing xD


	28. Goodbye So Soon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blind Betrayal. 'Nough said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Goodbye So Soon ~The Great Mouse Detective

            “–but why must he _die_?” Skaddi heaved a sigh and Arthur hit his bed hard and groaned.

            “I’ve explained this –he cannot control his own actions.” He stopped the moment he finished the sentence and his fists drew up and he growled wordlessly, his eyes squeezed shut in anger. “ _It_. It cannot control itself fully. If the Institute finds out that we have synths in the Brotherhood, they can turn on their control and make _my soldiers_ turn against me and those they would call brother.”

           Skaddi’s jaw clenched and she bit her lip hard. “There must be a way–”

            “Even if we destroyed the Institute we could not trust that they couldn’t take back control of Danse,” he exhaled and covered his face with his arm. Skaddi walked over to him and cast her healing spell on him to mend his bruises and hopefully put him in a better mood. He had been in such a good mood until Skaddi asked to go after Reagan.

            He was upset. He didn’t want to think about Danse. He didn’t want to think about how Reagan was pregnant with a synth’s child. And he knew now that Knight was not coming back if she found Danse. Skaddi didn’t want him to send anyone else after them, for fear of the outcome.

            Either for Reagan and Danse’s lives, or those who were set against them.

            “There…” Skaddi shook her head and drew her fingers up into fists and looked at her knapsack on his table. Her eyes narrowed and she stepped toward it, flipped it open and pulled out the soul gem. “I… I can send him to Skyrim.”

            “What?”

            “I can send Danse to Skyrim,” she turned back and lifted the gem for him to see. “It will take the thrower and whoever touches them to Skyrim, right in the middle of Whiterun hold, there’s… not much there, giants and mammoths, but–”

            “Mammoths?”

            “They’ll be fine, they have power armor, aye? I’ll… I’ll have to make a list, they’ll need to enchant their weapons and… um, those yellow power things…?”

            “Fusion cores.”

            “Aye, those, so that they will not diminish. Magic will keep their gear together…” she smiled and pushed the gem back into the bag and went to the door. “Argis, here please,” she called and left the door open as she went back to the table and grabbed one of the journals she’d gotten off of a dead body.

            “Aye, Thane?”

            “Come, I need you to write out a list for me,” she pointed to the journal and he nodded, coming in and sitting down.

            Arthur was standing. “Skaddi, this–”

            “This is the only way to save him. Keep him alive and keep him from harming the Brotherhood, aye?” she looked up at him with quirked brows and Arthur frowned. His steel blue gaze fell to the gem and then flicked back up to her face. “You don’t want him dead, Arthur, I can see it. The decision kills you.” She stepped closer to him and touched his chest, running her fingers through the course hair. Neither he nor Argis had changed or showered from the fight, but neither man seemed to notice or care. “He is your friend, and he loves you as you love him –brothers in the steel you wear and breathe.”

            Arthur’s breath was swift under her touch, and she watched the apple of his throat dip before his jaw flexed. “Save him.”

            She nodded once, a gentle tip of her head, and then turned back to Argis. “Start the list titled ‘Materials required’.”

 

 

            “They’re going to need a guide,” Argis was saying as the vertibird came to land on a flat rock plane. She let her spell fade away, exhaustion taking over at having kept up Clairvoyance for most of the trip here from the Prydwen. With the near-constant rainfall, it had been hard to keep the ‘bird on track while flying manually and only a glowing path leading them through the air.

            Now the water pouring down from the sky was accompanied with lightning and rolling thunder that made even Argis flinch.

            “We’ll be here,” Michael said and turned the bird off. Holmes turned back to look at her and she dipped her head to him.

            Skaddi and Argis left the vertibird and ran through the downpour to the bunker. There were smoking mounds of metal that she remembered having seen in some buildings, they shot like guns, but they were dead, destroyed and useless. When they stepped inside and dead robot was lying on the ground like it had been kicked by something large –based on the dent in its chest.

            Skaddi tilted her head up and saw one of those white double doors that was for those moving rooms, the lifts. She walked over and smacked the button how Reagan always did. Argis jumped when it dinged and the doors opened. She smirked at him, “These are smaller than the ones the dwemer use.”

            “Aye,” he frowned and stepped inside with her. When the door closed she looked at the wall panel in the dim light and realized she didn’t know how to work the darn thing. She’d seen Reagan and Danse just kind of… hit buttons, but there were only two on this one. She hit the bottom button and the lift started its swift descent. The nord behind her yelped and she turned back to look at him and he glared at the walls, trying to avoid her eyes.

            A pleasant bell chimed and Skaddi stepped out to the hum of laser rifles coming to life. Her brows and hands shot up and she stared at both of her guards as they gave her quizzical looks in exchange.

            “Don’t shoot?” she lifted a brow. Danse and Reagan mirrored each other as they lowered their weapons.

            “Maxson send you to finish this?” the Knight glared. “He knew I wouldn’t do it.”

            Skaddi shook her head. “I’m here to help you.”

            Danse’s brows frowned and he shifted his gun in his hands. “What does Maxson think of this?”

            “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have his approval,” she stated and Reagan looked sideways at Danse.

            “Arthur is… letting Danse live?” she clarified and the Dragonborn nodded.

            “He’s letting me offer you a chance,” the Skaal woman opened her bag and pulled out the soul gem. “You can live in Skyrim, away from the threat of the Institute, away from the threat of losing control over yourself.”

            Reagan’s lips parted and she dropped her gun. Danse’s nearly fell as well and then he shook his head. “That is your only way home, Skaddi.”

            “No, it is _a_ way home, one I’m not willing to use. So… I’m giving it to you. So you can live and be together,” she smiled and held up the gem. “I and Argis will give you our translation necklaces, and you’ll be able to start new lives there. You won’t have to live in fear of the Institute, or the Brotherhood…”

            “Just dragons… and giants, and those god things that sent you here, right?” Reagan lifted a brow, her arms folding over her chest. She was looking at Skaddi with more caution that she ever had before.

            The nord nodded, “Aye, but you’ll be together.”

            Danse looked over at Reagan and she returned the glance. “It’s better than living in hiding and running…”

            The Knight nodded and relaxed her arms with a sigh, “Fuck it, I’ve always wanted to see Danse dressed like Grognak.”

            “Reagan….”

            “What? Like you don’t want to see me running around in a loincloth,” she elbowed his arm and then gestured to the Dragonborn. “Okay, how do we do this? What do we need to know?”

            “Do you have your power armor?”

            “Yup.”

            Skaddi nodded and started to explain the list to them, Argis stood close by and showed them. The Dragonborn gave her necklace to Reagan and Argis gave the Knight’s holotags to Danse. She had him draw up a map, and the general laws, and eventually even Danse was overwhelmed with the information and the four stood in a frustrated square.

            “I will go with them… if it please my Thane,” Argis said softly then and Skaddi stiffened.

            “Argis, you don’t have to,” Reagan frowned and Danse shook his head.

            “We couldn’t ask that of you.”

            “There is too much to explain, and one wrong move and you two will make more enemies than your heavy armor can protect you from.” The nord male turned to the woman at his side and he took hold of her shoulders. He was saying goodbye. “Tell your Arthur that he is a brother to me. These are good people, and we are giving them a chance at a new life because of him. Tell him, should I see him again, we will drink merrily to the songs of his greatness, and yours.”

            “Argis…” Skaddi stared up at him and he smiled down at her, wrinkling the scar on his eye.

            “I will not leave if you forbid it, but I should think you agree that it would be best for them if I return to Skyrim to aid and guide them –protect them, as I did you in the foreign land.”

            He was right and she hated him for it. Skaddi felt her eyes start to burn and she blinked against the emotion that started to fill them. “I only just got you back…”

            “I know, my Thane,” he breathed and pulled her into an embrace. Skaddi forced herself to stare at the wall until the tears dried up. Her breathing was coming in swift pants and she didn’t think she would be able to stand if he wasn’t holding her. “I will see you again, if not in Skyrim, in Sovngarde,” he said into her hair and tightened his grip on her. She heaved a breath that was shaky and nearly a sob.

            “What if I don’t go to Sovngarde…?” she whispered into his shoulder and he chuckled, pulling back to look at her.

            “You told my yourself Tsun said he will see you again.”

            She wet her lips and nodded, looking down at the ground. “It would be best for you to return with them. And… find a woman, Argis,” she tried to force a smile and he offered up one of his own.

            He rested a hand on top of her head, then let it slide down to cup her jaw, and finally rest on her shoulder. “I love you, my Thane.”

            “And I love you, Argis the Bulwark.”

            He nodded his head down in a bow and turned to the soldiers. Reagan and Danse had stepped away to gather up their supplies and were finishing it up. Skaddi felt her heart racing and she wanting nothing more to just go with them, to see the lush grass of her homeland, feel the chilling snow, and the burning ash, and the clean air, the soothing water, and the lovely animals….

            But then she smiled because Danse and Reagan were speaking to each other, talking about their supplies, what they will need, asking Argis as he came to help them tie bags onto the power armor…. They didn’t realize they were about to go to a land that was pure, not plagued with radiation and scorched from a war that nearly destroyed the planet. The war in Skyrim was over, and it had done little more than destroyed towns. Compared to the destruction here…

            She wondered if either of them had ever seen a pure, clean ocean, or white snow? A deer with a smooth coat of soft fur, walking through grass as tall as a nord’s shoulders with the majesty of a king? A night sky with two moons dancing with auroras to light the darkness? Stars so numerous you cry when you try to count them?

            She cleared her throat and looked up at the power armor as they stepped up to stand in front of her. Skaddi handed the gem to Argis who stood between them and both suits placed a hand on the nord’s shoulders.

            “Remember, if you want to keep those suits going, you’ll have to have the… ugh, yellow things enchanted, same with the guns, or you’ll be forced to use our weapons,” she added the last part with a smile and Reagan chuckled.

            “I could learn swordsmanship…”

            “But all of our opponents will know nothing _but_ that,” Danse pointed out and the Knight nodded.

            There was a sudden hiss from the Knight’s power armor and the woman stepped out. “I’m sorry, but I’m a hugger, get over here, Dragonborn,” Reagan came forward and threw her arms around the nord woman tightly and Skaddi felt the tears prickle at her eyes again. When Reagan pulled back the woman smirked, curling her scared lips and she tilted her head, her chestnut ponytail swaying. “You take care of Artie for me. Give him a good swift kick in the ass when he needs it and a hug just the same, you hear me?”

            “Aye, Reagan,” Skaddi smiled and the Knight nodded, clearing her throat.

            “And uh, tell my friend Merrin I’m sorry I didn’t say bye…. I hope she’ll forgive me. Michael flew you here, yeah?” the Skaal nodded. “Good, punch him for me, in the arm, hard, tell him I know he stole my Nuka Dark. Those things are rare, and now I’ll never get one.”

            Skaddi smiled, “I will do my best to remember.”

            Reagan bowed her head and then narrowed her eyes, “And slap Haylen. Like, right in the face. That bitch…” the woman sighed and Danse’s power armor shifted.

            “Reagan…”

            “I know… I know, I’m stalling…” her honey eyes met Skaddi’s pale blue ones and she frowned. “What’s it going to be like?”

            “Beautiful.”

            The Knight nodded and backed up to her armor and climbed back in.

            Argis looked at the gem in his hand and then at Skaddi when Reagan’s power armor rested on his shoulder. “Thane.”

            “Argis,” she breathed and took a step back. The nord man sucked in a deep breath and then lifted his hand and threw the gem to the ground.

            The crystal shattered and the black smoke within fell out and rolled up like a flame had been started below it. The thick cloud then shifted, as if a window blew it, and it wrapped around Argis, following up the power-armored hands on his shoulder until the black cloud surrounded them all.

            The colors shifted to purple, and then it began to fade to mist, and she could see through it. Her lips parted as the mist dissipated and left her alone in the bunker.

            Now she let the tears fall and she sucked in a deep breath through her nose and placed her hands on her knees to keep from falling over. She wanted to go back to Arthur, to be held by him and tell him that they were gone, safe, and that they could move forward with his plans for their giant robot.

            She took a deep breath again and tried to steady herself before she straightened up and smoothed down her hair, deciding to retie the tail she had put it up in as she rode the lift up. Stepping out, she looked at the rain, and breathed in the smell of faint radiation and water that burned when it touched your skin. It was only a light sting, but it was noticeable. The vertibird was still in place, but she didn’t see Holmes sitting in his seat from this angle.

            Skaddi’s brows tugged together and she cocked her head to the side, eyes narrowed. As she stepped forward she heard wet footfalls rushing ahead of her, and she whipped around to see a familiar face running to her.

            “Skaddi! You have to help me!” MacCready panted and slid to a stop in front of her, spraying rock and mud. She stared at him with wide eyes and parted lips, she cast her spell so she could understand him.

            “Where have you been?” she breathed and he shook his head.

            “I was trying to get Duncan’s cure –Nate… he turned on me, he’s working with the Institute,” he breathed heavily and Skaddi’s heart stopped.

            “Turned on you?”

            “He told the Institute all about you, and the Brotherhood, they’re going to work with the Minutemen and blow that blimp right out of the sky,” he looked over his shoulder and then whipped back to look at her. “Please, you have to come with me, now.”

            “Where?”

            He started to back up and she followed, her eyes flitting over to the vertibird. Where were Glass and Holmes?

            “My son, Skaddi,” he coughed between breaths and started running again. She hesitated and looked over at the ‘bird one more time. Too many things went through her head. She didn’t know what was happening. Shouldn’t they get back to the Prydwen and warn Arthur about the Minutemen? What about his son? Did he expect to get the cure now?

            “MacCready, slow down, I don’t understand,” she frowned and ran after him.

            He was head of her, the acidic rain making it hard for her to keep with him as he followed a trail and bounded over fallen rocks and trees.

            “MacCready!” she called again and he rounded a corner.

            The Dragonborn was dressed in only a flight suit, her great sword strapped to her back because it was the easiest to carry without armor on. Now she had to hold onto it while she tried to follow the sniper through the dried up river they were using as a path. It wasn’t until she turned the corner and no longer saw MacCready that she realized she had no idea where she was, and the rain was washing away her tracks. She blinked against the burn as water dripped down from her brow into her eyes and stung.

            “MacCready?” she stepped forward and looked at his tracks. Her upper lip curled and she started forward, following along the path, her eyes glued down to keep with the tracks. She needed to look up, but she was afraid of losing the trail.

            Thunder rolled, lighting up the sky with a flash so bright Skaddi was blinded for a moment, the afterimages making it hard to see anything in front of, or around her. She froze in place and blinked as rapidly as her heart was beating. Her stomach churned as the sight around her came into focus.

            MacCready stood in front of her flanked by two white faced metal men. Slowly, she reached up for her sword. She couldn’t see the sniper’s face under his hat, dripping a screen of water down before him, but his sniper rifle was crossed in front of him and he stood very similar to how Danse or Reagan stood at rest. The synths at his side were armed with short laser weapons that were rather bulky compared to the ones that the Brotherhood used. Clunky and white like the machines that wielded them.

            Something beside her moved and she let her gaze flick to the right, then left. Two more synths. Steps behind her said there were more back there. The nord lifted her spell when the man spoke.

            “They have my son, Skaddi…”

            “You have made a grave mistake, MacCready.”

            Just as the steps behind her came forward, Skaddi grabbed her sword and sucked in a deep breath.

            “ _Fus Ro Dah!_ ”

            Her sword sliced through the metal man that came at her with the lightning stick, but the three behind her were on her before she could turn the heavy blade up. She didn’t even get to see MacCready and the two synths in front of her go flying. The lightning made her muscles lock up and quickly trained her magicka.

            She sucked in another breath and a hard fist came into her stomach. She hadn’t noticed the man in the black leather coat. He was a red guard with eye shields, a tight-lipped expression, and odd slick black gloves that seemed to stifle the electric current.

            His gun was on his hip. He also had a lightning stick.

            They weren’t trying to kill her.

            They were trying to capture her.

            Skaddi felt her heart stop and she heaved, trying to get another word out. The strikes from behind made her back arch and she stumbled forward toward the red guard who pressed the end of his stick into her chest, above her heart.

            The Dragonborn screamed, her body tight, coiled like the elastic band that Reagan used in her hair and to flick at Danse when he was asleep. If the stick was pulled away she would surly drop. She grabbed it and looked up at her reflection in the eye-shields.

            “ _Yol_ ,” she breathed through clenched teeth and fire spilled from her mouth onto the man.

            He cried out and stepped back, patting at the flamed licking up his jacket and onto his skin. Another shocking beat came from behind her, and it knocked her to the ground. Her magicka was diminished before she could summon the mind to cast a spell, and now she had exhausted her Thu’um.

            Skaddi hit the mud and looked up at the white plastic faces above her. They all wore the strange black gloves, with boots as well to match, allowing them to go unharmed by the lightning.

            The Skaal hunter growled through clenched teeth as they all drove the sticks into her, letting the electric shocks course through her. Being so tightly wound exhausted her, and she fell face down into the sludge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know... I know, but this was my plan all along, well, 90% of this chapter was my plan all along from the start xD shit develops.


	29. So Close

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skaddi's taken. Won't go out without a fight, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Close ~Enchanted
> 
> FEELS WARNING

            Skaddi opened her eyes and shut them immediately. It was _bright_. Everything was white. She’d never seen anything so…

            She opened her eyes again and blinked several times to see if there was anything that wasn’t just as _white_ as a fresh layer of snow. There was nothing. It was all the same. The smooth metal floor. The smooth metal walls. The smooth metal ceiling.

            One wall was clear. She stood up from where she had been put on a white bed sticking out from the wall –the sheets, pillow, and blanket were all white as well. She touched the clear glass and was shocked.

            Skaddi’s hand whipped back and she hissed.

            “Please, don’t do that, we would very much like to speak with you, and… your necklace is gone…”

            The Skaal didn’t know that voice, and when an old man walked into view, she glared at him. Her lips curled and her hands balled up into fists. She had been changed into a white uniform that was similar to that of the Brotherhood, but it was loose, not as form fitting and didn’t sit on her right.

            “Would you please cast your spell so we can speak?” the white haired man asked. He was clean, too clean, cleaner than the jarls that Skaddi had met. Cleaner than Arthur after a shower. His skin was paler than her man’s as well, without a scar or blemish save the wrinkles creasing his eyes, forehead, mouth, cheeks, and neck. He wore a clean, combed beard that was thick and well taken care of with hair to match.

            She told him he could go to Oblivion.

            “I really wish to be civil with you, um, Scotty, is it?”

            Her brows were shoved together hard and she refused to move other than staring into his eyes. She knew those eyes. They were… Nate’s eyes.

            “She can’t understand you, Shaun,” Nate’s voice chimed in, and Skaddi stiffened, looking at the sheepish man she’d grown such distrust in.

            He had trimmed and combed his black hair to nearly match the white haired man’s. The traitor also wore white pants with a white coat over a blue sweater, mirroring the green sweatered version of the other man. They looked… related. Like this man could be Nate’s father.

            “I can see that, father, but we need to speak with her.”

            Nate turned to Skaddi and lifted his hand like she did to cast her spell. Her eyes narrowed and she considered ignoring the request. Then she lifted the spell and growled, “Arthur will come for me.”

            “He has no idea where you are, Skaddi. For all he knows, you went back to Skyrim with those soldiers. It’s really a shame that your buddy went with them, he would have made a good base for the next generation of synths,” Nate sighed and shrugged.

            “What are you talking about?” her brows drew together and her fist tightened. “Arthur knows I would not leave him.”

            “Does he? Does he… really?” Nate shook his head and shrugged. “We took your pilots too, just to make sure. They almost got us, all your suits have emergency trackers in them, that’s why we changed you out of it, because you go getting offended or something.” Nate stepped forward, closer to the glass and Skaddi straightened up. “Either way. He can’t know where you are.”

            “He will find me. He is coming for you, for the Institute. That is where we are, aye?” She came close enough to the glass that she could feel the charge running through it. “He will slaughter all of you to find me.”

            “If he does get here,” Nate shook his head, “There no way he’ll find you down here. And that means if he destroys the Institute, he destroys you.”

            Skaddi’s jaw tightened and she shook her head, “You underestimate what a man will do when you steal his woman.”

            The white haired man spoke up then. “Please, father, I have questions I need answered before we can proceed.”

            “I’m sorry, Shaun,” Nate stepped back and Skaddi’s glared between the two. The old called the younger ‘father’?

            “Hello,” he smiled kindly and came forward. “My name is Shaun, and you may call me that as well, I imagine any other title may confuse you.”

            “Because you think me simple minded?” she offered and he frowned a little.

            “Because you cannot understand how things are done here.”

            “Try me,” she dared through hissed teeth and he sighed.

            “I’m afraid I don’t require you to understand how the Institute works for my tests to be considered a success, so I must decline. Now, if you would be so kind, I have some questions I need you to answer. And please, just give honest answers. I understand you are a person of honor, I don’t imagine you enjoy lying.”

            “You talk a lot,” Skaddi snapped and the old man sighed.

            “First question then,” he turned to the side and waved someone forward. Skaddi glanced over to see the red guard she’d burned. “I know you are using magic, it draws on some energy to do that. We’ll work on that later, but Nate was unable to explain the power you used with your voice. What is that?”

            “The Thu’um. Dragon’s tongue. Words of Power,” Skaddi said crisply and felt her magic begin to wane.

            “What fuels it?”

            “I assume my spirit.”

            “You don’t know?”

            “Do you understand why you can speak? What makes you move your arms at your command?”

            “Yes, actually, I do.”

            Skaddi huffed and dropped her spell. She hated people of learning. Even those in Skyrim nearly always annoyed her. She saw no need in understanding why her body moved according to her will –the only time she needed to worry was when it did not follow her command.

            “We aren’t done talking…”

            “Skaddi,” Nate barked and she jerked her head to look at him. He waved his hand for her to cast her spell and she narrowed her eyes at him and kept still. “She’s going to be defiant.”

            “I have several more questions…”

            “I know, Shaun.”

            Skaddi turned her back on them and looked around the room. There was a toilet and a sink, and a bed. The space was all around as big as Arthur’s washroom, maybe even smaller than that.

            “X6-88, stand guard here, report any activities she does when we return.”

            “Yes, Father.”

            She could hear them leave and that was when her body started to grow weak and she felt nausea setting in. She had played tough, but she was so very scared Nate’s words were right. Would Arthur assume she went back to Skyrim? Would he destroy the Institute without finding her and kill her as well?

            Tears filled her eyes and she tried to steady her breathing.

            “–damn–fucking–synth–motherfucker!”

            Skaddi spun around at the sound of Lancer-Sergeant Michael Glass’s voice. She went to the front of her room and watched as a glass wall was moved and he was tossed into the cell by a couple of plastic faced synths. There was a pale, orange haired man standing behind them, dressed in a flight suit.

            Michael was… in the cell and… behind the synths?

            Her brows drew together and she tilted her head as the Michael outside stepped forward and closed the glass wall and then turned to look over at her. He lifted an orange brow and smirked –the same killer smile that he always gave.

            “Hey there, Ice-Hunter,” he said and she looked back at the cell behind him as he came toward her. The other Michael was trying to get to his feet, coughing up swears.

            She lifted her spell, “What are you?”

            “You know what I am,” he chuckled and she looked over every piece of him. It was… Michael. Every part of it, each freckle, the spark in his emerald eyes, the way his orange hair was combed but flattened by wearing his helmet. “Come on, say it…”

            “You’re a synth…”

            “Ah, yeah, there you go,” he turned back and looked at the other Michael who stood up and used his hand on the glass for support. His wall wasn’t electrically charged.

            Before she could say anything doors slid open and two more synths dragged in Lancer-Knight Dallas Holmes and dropped him into the cell beside Skaddi’s where she couldn’t see him. Michael called out to him and beat on the glass.

            “Holmes, you good? Get up, do something, come on!”

            Trotting down the stairs from the door came another Holmes, dressed in a flight suit with a laser pistol in his hands. “Come, G5-15, we have a mission to complete.”

            Her brows drew together and the synth Michael turned to look at him. “Yes, before the Brotherhood gets too worried about us.”

            “No,” Skaddi breathed and dropped her spell with the last of her magicka. The synth soldiers paid her a glance and Michael’s smirked before turning and leaving.

            The real Michael yelled at the top of his lungs and beat on the glass until his fists bled. She could only assume he was using every swear he knew on them.

 

 

            “This will go easier if you don’t fight it, Skaddi. It’s going to happen one way other another,” Nate came forward, hands lifted.

            “It’s just easier if you are awake to answer questions.”

            “Why are we bothering with this? We already have a copy…”

            Her jaw clenched and she drew her fists up and held them in front of her while she stood in the back of her cell. There were several new faces, doctors or scientists, words she didn’t know. They had something… a needle of some sort they were trying to stick her with. Michael was shouting behind them, she didn’t know what he was saying. Holmes still hadn’t gotten up and it had been over an hour.

            Nate stepped forward and Skaddi threw her fist, catching him in the jaw and he hit the ground in a limp heap. The man named Shaun wasn’t here, but in his place were two men, one in a uniform with a black stripe –his face was ugly, round, shaved, with slanted eyes and hollow cheeks with too-wide cheekbones– and the other was in a matching uniform but had an orange stripe.

            At that the red guard came forward and as she threw a punch at him, he deflected and grabbed her other wrist. She turned, twisting so that she had his arm and then threw a hard fist into his side and made him grunt. Then she punched him in the cheek and heard it crack. She shoved him into the wall, and his eye shields shattered.

            Something smacked her from behind and she felt an electric shock race through her. Skaddi spun around and sucked in a breath.

            “Get her before she can–”

            “ _Fus Ro Dah!_ ”

            Everyone in front of her flew so hard into the walls that she heard bones crack. Those who landed against her glass wall started to shake with shocks and she ran passed them, going to Michael’s cell. He shook his head and pointed for her to go, to leave up the way the others came in. She met his emerald eyes for only a moment, then shook her head. His clean shaven jaw clenched and she looked at the panel on the wall to open his cell. She hit several buttons and finally one opened. Michael raced out and across to Holmes’s cell and hit the button to open it.

            Skaddi dipped down and grabbed the lancer and threw him over her shoulders. Then Michael led the way up the stairs. Behind them the white clothed men were starting to recover.

            The door slid open and Michael turned down a hallway. Everything was so white, but now the floor was darkened with black tiles that muted their footsteps. She kept close behind the lancer and he paused only long enough to open another door. They slipped inside and then froze when they saw the atrium in front of them.

            Skaddi’s lips parted and she openly gaped at the green trees and grass, the waterfalls and countless levels towering above them with balconies and… people. There were so many people. It was some sort of indoor city.

            Michael started running when the alarms blared, and all those people started shouting. Some were armed and others ran. Those dressed in the black leather coats like the red guard she burned came after them while the ones dressed in white uniforms like her and the lancers were running for cover.

            Blue bolts shot by them like the red beams from the Brotherhood’s laser rifles.

            “Don’t hit the woman! Kill the men! We don’t need them anymore!”

            “Skaddi, come on,” Michael glanced back and then jerked to the side to avoid a blue bolt catching him in the side. She started running faster and they passed into a room with a stairwell. She looked back and then to the right. There was an area that looked like the mess hall on the Prydwen –only white and crisp. “That way,” Michael pushed her and she started forward again. “We have to get to the elevator in the middle, to their teleporter.”

            She didn’t know what he was saying, but he pointed ahead toward the large glass cylinder in the middle of the atrium that stretched from the ceiling down deep into the ground.

            A man in a black leather coat stepped in front of them and fired on her. Her steps faltered and Holmes’s body jerked as one of the blue bolts struck him in the head, burning right through into her shoulder. She screamed and dropped the slain lancer to the ground. Michael cried out in a raged, his emerald eyes flaring with hate.

            Skaddi sucked in a breath and breathed, “ _Fus_!”

            The man fell back and smacked the wall. Michael raced forward and grabbed his gun, shooting him quickly in the head and then looked back at Skaddi. She rushed forward and Michael lifted the weapon, returning fire on those behind them.

            The Dragonborn reached the cylinder and looked it over. It appeared to be a lift, like the ones in dwemer ruins. She smacked the red button and then turned in time to grab the lightning stick of a metal faced synth. She twisted it out of its grasp and then kicked her leg up, sending the metal thing to the ground. Then she stomped onto its head and it shattered, sending out shocks.

            Michael yelped and she turned to see his white suit had black scorch marks from catching bolts. She sucked in a breath and stepped up to his side. “ _Yol Toor Shul_!”

            Fire fell from her mouth and rolled forward, up the slope to the collection of synths and black-leathered men shooting at them. They all cried out, the robots sounding more like alerts while the men tried to put out the fires burning their flesh. Michael turned to her and smiled, shaking his head.

            “I’m glad I’m on your side,” he said and the glass behind them slid open.

            They stepped inside and Michael smacked the button to make it go up. Skaddi sucked in a breath of relief as the bolts bounced off the glass. She looked over at Michael who was looking down with a frown at Holmes’s body lying in the mess of burning synths. His corpse would also be burned and she felt a swell of regret and anger at herself for having dropped him.

            Skaddi lifted her hand and said, “I’m sorry, I should have held onto him tighter.”

            “It’s fine, Skaddi, what’s important is getting you out of here and back to the Prydwen,” he said and looked up at her, shifting the gun in his arms. Then his glaze shifted passed her and narrowed.

            The Skaal woman cocked her head and started to turn right as she heard a familiar crack between the blares of sirens. The glass behind her snapped and Michael’s head whipped back and smacked the wall behind him. Then he fell to the ground, a bloody hole in his head wide enough to fit her arm through.

            Skaddi screamed and turned around to see MacCready standing on a balcony, his sniper rifle across his chest, with a boy standing behind. The sniper was small, so far away, but she knew how good of a shot he was. She shook her head and looked back at Michael, saw the blood falling down onto his freckled face, into his wide emerald eyes. She knelt down and tipped his head up. He was dead.

            “Michael…” she breathed and touched the blood and then closed his eyes, carefully she moved him so he was lying on his back. “You didn’t deserve this,” she felt tears sting her eyes and the touched the blood again. The lift was still rising, slowly, but she was cast into darkness as they rose above the atrium.

            Skaddi ran the Lancer’s blood over her cheeks, marking herself for him and then growled and grabbed him up over her shoulder.

            She would not part with him as well. She would carry him back to the Prydwen if it killed her.

            The lift came to a stop and she looked up at a very startled looking woman who was panting with her fear. She lifted her hands and Skaddi stepped forward. The woman wore a long, white coat, closed with a yellow stripe going down its side.

            “I… I’m unarmed,” she stuttered and Skaddi lifted her spell.

            “Teleport me out of here.”

            “I… I can’t, we’re on lock down!”

            “Turn it off then,” she stepped up to the woman, making her look small and causing her to stumble back into a chair in front of a large mess of controls and buttons and a terminal. Like the one that Ingram had built to teleport Nate what felt like so long ago.

            “I can’t! I don’t have that kind of clearance!”

            Skaddi roared and turned, holding onto Michael’s arm and leg tighter on her shoulder. She could feel his blood staining the white of her suit. She swallowed hard and shook her head, dropping her spell.

            Tears burned her eyes and she turned this way and that to try to devise a plan.

            “ _Dovahkiin_.”

            Skaddi’s back stiffened and she turned around at the sound of her own voice.

            In front of her stood… Skaddi.

            Her pale eyes widened as she looked at herself and felt her lips part. The other Skaddi wore the flight suit she’d come in and had Ice on her back. She was standing with a hand lifted to grasp the blade, preparing to bring it forward, just as she was trained. Her hair was tied back with the fringe hanging down onto her forehead, similar to how the real Skaddi was wearing hers, but the new one’s was cleaner, not frayed from fighting.

            Skaddi swallowed hard and lowered the lancer on her shoulder to the ground carefully and then lifted her spell.

            “You are a synth.”

            “Aye.”

            The real Skaal’s skin crawled and she felt that wave of nausea roll through her again. The woman before her was a perfect copy. But… she couldn’t be Dragonborn too, could she? “You’re going to kill me?”

            “I have been ordered not to,” the synth stated and pulled Ice down to hold it in front of her. “But there are many ways I can take you back alive.”

            “You can try,” the Dragonborn dropped her spell and sucked in a breath as the woman rushed forward and swung her great sword. “ _Fus Ro–_ ”

            The synth was pushed back, but not before the sword sliced right into Skaddi’s arm and opened up a flow of blood. Quickly, she summoned her spell and healed herself, turning back to the woman attacking her Skaddi sidestepped and let the sword glide right by.

            She might look like Skaddi, but she had not worked up the muscle memory of fighting with the great sword. The real Skaal grabbed the other’s hands and wrenched the woman sideways to make her release the sword. Skaddi drove the blade forward and the synth moved, catching it in the side rather than right through like she hoped.

            Then the synth looked up toward the lift and smiled.

            Skaddi didn’t know why she did this until she looked up and saw the gun. The one Michael had been using. She never used guns, but this synth wasn’t above it apparently.

            Skaddi slashed at her legs but the woman was faster than the heavy-sword wielding nord. She was on her feet and at the lift, grabbing the gun before the Skaal could close the distance.

            “Don’t worry, I’ll say hello to Arthur for you,” the woman said in the language that Skaddi did not know and fired, striking the Dragonborn in the chest, below the heart.

            The Skaal dropped her sword and fell to her knees.

            More people were coming in now and she looked up at the synth copy of herself as she stood up and came to stop right in front of her.

            “Don’t kill her,” someone behind them said.

            “She will live. Nothing a stimpak cannot fix,” then the other Skaddi lifted the gun and brought it down on the real Dragonborn’s head, causing everything to go black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt sick after this, but Michael was one of my babies...


	30. Someday My Prince Will Come

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skaddi comes back to the Prydwen, but... there's something off about her.
> 
> Well, time to destroy the Institute...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someday My Prince Will Come ~Snow White
> 
> This switches back and forth in POV a little, hope you all don't mind, I just didn't want a big long time skip and then an over explanation of what happened, so I thought this worked.

            “Elder Maxson, sir, the Primair has returned.”

            Arthur turned around and felt his body relax some. “Thank you, squire.” The boy scurried off, leaving him alone on the Command Deck. He hadn’t expected Skaddi’s mission to take her nearly four days. He’d come very closer to sending someone after them when they hadn’t heard back from the Primair after forty-eight hours. Lancer-Sergeant Glass never fell off the radar for such a long time. He was expecting an outstanding report to excuse this.

            But mostly, he just wanted them here, safe.

            The footfalls made him look up. Skaddi’s leather boots fell on the metal of the Prydwen’s floor so that he heard each step. Normally she was quieter than that.

            “Skaddi,” he let her name fall from his lips in a soft breath and she smiled, her freckled cheeks lifting to scrunch her eyes some. She came to stand in front of him and he looked her over, relief starting to subside. Something was wrong. She had a necklace hanging in the open collar of her flight suit, but it wasn’t right. It was a chain rather than something that she could inscribe her enchantment on.

            “Arthur,” she started and came toward him.

            Immediately he reached behind his back and wrapped his fingers around his knife, pulling it out. Her eyes widened as he stepped forward, grabbing her by the hair and pulling her head back. The tie in her hair was an elastic band, not the leather string she normally used.

            As he brought the knife forward, toward its throat it reached up to grab his arm and push against him. It was strong, but it didn’t know what to do in this situation, with him coming at it. Shock made it fumble and the thin edge of his blade found its throat and opened it to allow hot, red blood to pour out onto the black flight suit it wore. Then Maxson stepped back and allowed it to grasp at its neck and try to stop the bleeding.

            It choked out something, but the words got lost in the lifeblood filling its airway and it fell forward onto its knees, staring up at him with the pale blue eyes he’d fallen in love with.

            “Oh my God!” the knight on duty came forward and backed up, unsure of what to do. Others started to fill the doorway, and many started speaking and asking questions, but his gaze was locked on the thing wearing his Skaddi’s face.

            “Bring me Lancer-Sergeant Glass and Lancer-Knight Holmes. Now.”

            Someone in the group followed the order. His steel eyes didn’t move. His entire body was tense because he knew what had happened, and he feared for the worse if this thing was here instead of his Skaddi.

            The abomination hit the metal floor in front of him, hard as two people were pushed in front of the crowd. Maxson looked up to see a very surprised looking Glass and Holmes who gaped at the dead body in front of them. They looked right, acted right… but he didn’t believe it.

            “On your knees,” he stated and the lancers looked at him.

            “W-what?” Holmes breathed and then looked at Glass who started to kneel.

            “Sir, what–”

            “Don’t talk,” Arthur stated, his voice low and he waited for Holmes to get down like the lancer at his side. “Where is Skaddi?”

            There was a sudden blare of sound distortion and Maxson flinched before turning to see a void of purple and black open and a massive being step out of it.

            “Hey, that’s not the real– oh, you already…”

            Maxson’s brows snapped together as he glared at the creature before him. It wore the same armor Skaddi had, that she called daedric armor. Its skin matched the pattern of it with black flesh and red markings. Horns curled out from the thick black hair that fell down onto its spiked shoulders, and it smiled to show white teeth with a little too much point.

            Arthur could only assume this was, “Sanguine, I presume?”

            The Daedra bowed his head then looked off at the soldiers gaping and pointing weapons at him. “Yes. My young _Dovahkiin_ gave you enough details for you to guess that,” he came forward and looked down at the body before him. “Not a very good copy, in my opinion, what gave it away?”

            “The moment I saw it I knew it wasn’t right.”

            Sanguine nodded and then gestured to the soldiers. “The two that were with her are dead. Shot in the head, it was… really quite sad, they almost made it out of that damned place.”

            The weapons were then turned on the kneeling lancer-impersonators. Maxson glared over at them, and then regarded Sanguine with a curious expression, his hands moving behind his back, “Did you come to solely warn me of their deception?”

            “No, I came to help you because you’re about to be attacked, and I quite like this airship of yours,” Sanguine glanced around and then smiled, kneeling down beside the body. His armor made heavy pounds against the metal as he shifted and then grabbed the synth’s head. It cracked right open with a spray of blood and the Daedra reached in with pointed gauntlets.

            “Who is attacking?”

            “Those farmer-soldiers have their sights set on you now, thanks to the asses underground. But, don’t worry,” he pulled out a chunk of something that only took a moment for Arthur to recognize as a synth component, “You’ve gained my favor, just as my little Dragonborn, so I consider you both my champions.”

            “What sort of aid were you planning on supplying us with?”

            “You are building that giant robot, yes? It needs a power source.”

            “We have plans to retrieve one from Mass Fusion.”

            “Yes, _but_ ,” Sanguine lifted the component to his mouth and licked off the blood before pulling it back to look at it and offer it out to Arthur who took it with a grimace and lifted brow. “Those asses who have my _Dovahkiin_ have their sights on that specific source as well. And they’re going to go after it while the farmer-soldiers attack you and blow this _very_ lovely ship out of the sky. Now, you have quite the army, but, fighting two battles at the same time, split up like that will leave anyone weak… _and_ while that’s happening, the little group of rebellious agitators that has become a thorn in your side –despite my Dragonborn’s early destruction of most of their forces– plan on sabotaging your fancy robot.”

            Arthur ignored the reactions from his soldiers and kept his face clean, respectful, and did his best to hide the wave of nausea that tickled at his throat. This was surely a time he could have used Skaddi’s aid. But the Daedra had already given them more than enough help by simply warning them. “Thank you for this information, Prince Sanguine.”

            He bowed again and when he came back up he was smiling. “Tell me, Arthur Maxson, the last of your name, would you like my assistance in this upcoming battle?”

            “You have already aided us beyond what was expected, any further assistance will be received gratefully, and the appropriate praise will be given in exchange.”

            “You just keep my little _Dovahkiin_ safe when you get her back, yes?” the Daedra lifted his head and Arthur nodded. The way he spoke, it was as if the Prince cared more for Skaddi than he let on. “Now. While you go after your power source, I will prevent the farmer-soldiers from harming your airship, and that will allow you to use your remaining forces to protect your robot.”

            “Thank you, Sanguine.”

            “Thank me in other ways, young Elder,” he smiled and turned to look out the window. “It’s starting. Prepare yourselves.”

            Then the Daedra started walking toward the wall. A void opened and he stepped into it, leaving them. Arthur’s steel eyes fell on the lancer-impersonators and narrowed. “Execute them. We don’t need them.”

            “Elder–!” the Glass lookalike started and a knight fired a shot into its head.

            The Holmes synth sighed and squeezed its eyes shut as it felt the rifle pressed to its head. Maxson watched them both hit the ground before he turned back and stepped up to the window to look outside.

            It was daylight, bright and clear with an easy view of the Castle in the distance.

            “Get the ‘birds ready to go to Mass Fusion. We need the beryllium agitator, now.”

            The men started moving, and Arthur took a deep breath, his entire body tense as he turned to put his back to the Castle and look on in the direction of the old C.I.T. building. His Skaddi was there with two of his men dead.

            He was going to get her back.

 

 

            Skaddi blinked and rubbed at her head.

            “Are you all right?”

            The voice sent a shudder down her spine, and the Skaal woman’s pale eyes opened slowly, sending icy daggers at the glass wall where the sniper stood. He was on the other side, dressed as he always had been, but his face was clean from a shower, and the hair around his pointed lips had been trimmed. He was frowning, his sky eyes rolling over her.

            “They gave you a couple of stimpaks… you should feel fine… mostly,” he was saying, but she didn’t know the words. Her breathing was starting to pick up, and now her eyes were drying up from her refusal to blink. “Come on, Skaddi, talk to me…”

            The nord slowly moved her legs over the side of the bed and then stood up, continuing her stare on him. Then she walked up to the window and shifted her tongue in her mouth, then she spat on the window, listening to it sizzle as the shocks took it. His lips turned down deeper and he sighed, nodding.

            “I deserve that.”

            Skaddi’s icy eyes narrowed further and she lifted her spell. “I will rip your heart from your chest and shove it down your throat.”

            MacCready’s expression didn’t change, he just dipped his head down to look at his boots and gave her a nod. “I know you think I deserve that, but I really hoped you would understand why I did this.”

            “Why you _lied_ to me, and drew me into a trap? Turned on me, slaying a member of the Brotherhood of Steel that could have aided in my escape?” Her head tilted and she growled, “You could have helped me, but instead you turned your back on me.”

            He looked down at her mouth, watching her lips curl, and then he bowed his head. “If I was going to ‘help’ you, the only way I could do it is to kill you,” he spoke softly and with emotion thickening his voice. “There was no way for you and him to get out of here. Not like that. You can’t leave unless they let you.”

            “Then you should have shot me after you shot Michael.”

            “Skaddi, I don’t _want_ to hurt you,” he stepped closer to the glass and then let out a long breath. “I wanted this all to be different.”

            “You wanted to be with me,” she stated and placed her hands on her hips. “How would things have been different then? Would I stand on that balcony with you and that boy? Allow him to call me ‘ma’ and for you to touch me?”

            “Skaddi–”

            “I would call you love, and kneel before you? How would you treat me in return? How would you show your love for me? By keeping me to yourself and beside you?”

            “I know we’ll never be anything, Skaddi, I’ve sealed that fate, but don’t do this–”

            “You’re damned right we will never be anything–”

            “It wasn’t an easy decision. You chose them over me. You left me with Nate, and when I found you again you were… you were brainwashed by them. In awe of their power and all because they seemed familiar to you? What if Maxson wasn’t…” he glared and waved his hands helplessly. “What if he wasn’t this big, tough guy? What if he was like me? Would you still cling to him?”

            Skaddi leaned forward, her scowl hard, “Your heart belongs to coin. His to his honor. No matter what his appearance, I would not have turned my back to him. I would have fought for him as I did Ulfric Stormcloak.”

            MacCready shook his head and said, “And what kept you from fucking him too?”

            She dropped her spell and stepped back from the mercenary. It was a flaw of his she saw, when he got upset in a conversation he lashed out and spoke before thinking. He looked like he regretted the words, and he smacked his face, rubbing his long, thin hands over it and then up under his hat into his hair.

            “Damn it, I’m sorry, Skaddi,” he breathed and came up so that he was nearly touching the window. “Please, talk to me.”

            Her jaw was tight, too much so for her to speak, but she lifted her hand again, then her brow, prompting him to continue speaking.

            “They have me trapped here, too, they’re using my son against me, and I can’t handle it anymore.” He wet his lips, “Duncan isn’t fully cured. They’re giving him small doses each time I help them to slowly work him back to healthy. I can’t stand seeing him here, this place is so…” his nose wrinkled and he looked down at the ground, the bill of his hat hiding his face. “I fucked up. I sided with the wrong guy. I should have just told Nate off, but he seemed… right. He helped me when I needed it and had my back, I thought we were a team until we got here and he just started telling them anything and everything about you and the Brotherhood and even the Railroad and Minutemen. He found out his son was here, the old man running this place, and he just lost sight of everything else.”

            “Explain it all you like, MacCready, I’m still going to kill you.”

            “That’s fine, just…” he let out a breath and gave her a pained expression. “I just need to know Duncan is going to be cured and safe.”

            “I am confused,” her eyes narrowed. “You speak as though I have control over that.”

            “The Brotherhood has… something helping them fight. They knew that the Institute was going after some… device that they need as well. They beat the synths to it. Nate and Shaun are pissed. And the Minutemen were supposed to attack the blimp while the Institute went in to get the device, but something attacked the Castle and no one’s heard from them. And… the Railroad…” his eyes drifted to look passed her as he thought about that, and then he shuddered. “The Brotherhood is proving harder to destroy than the Institute thought they were going to be.”

            “Good.”

            “Yeah, but that means that the fight will be coming here, and one wrong move and this whole place gets blown up.”

            “And I care why?” she lifted her brows and he shook his head.

            “Because you’ll be in here still? Because Duncan will be…?” he dropped to his knees. “I brought him into this mess because I got involved with the wrong people again. I messed up, Skaddi, I need you to know I would do everything differently if I could.”

            “No, MacCready, you wouldn’t.”

            He looked up at her, his hat falling back onto the floor behind him. “I really would, Skaddi.”

            “Then let me out of here.”

            The sniper nodded, “When the Brotherhood gets here. They have their robot, it’s on its way and I can only image what Maxson will do when he gets here.”

            “Slaughter everyone until he finds me.”

            He swallowed and stood up, grabbing his hat to put it on his head. “Yeah, but not everyone needs to die….”

            “Are you asking me to spare them?”

            “I’m asking you to save some people,” he breathed. “Save Duncan….”

            “I should open his throat in front of you,” she growled and MacCready’s nose wrinkled as anger and hurt took over his features.

            “My son has done nothing wrong.”

            “No, but you have done enough for you both,” she snapped. “You dare ask this of me? After everything you’ve done?”

            “I thought you had compassion.”

            “I am a warrior. I am built by and for battle.” Her entire body was hard and she knew that if the glass didn’t sit between them, she would have killed him already with her bare hands. “This is war, MacCready. There are no rules or compassion in war, simply honor. And my honor does not hinge on the life of you boy –the life of a boy that I have never met, a boy belonging to the man who betrayed the trust he’d been given. And for what? The boy’s life? Where has that gotten him now?”

            “They got him before I could stop them,” he spoke lowly, and she shook her head.

            “There is always things that will be regretted, things that we say we wish we could change, but the true show of heart is how you deal with the situations you are given. And, MacCready, you have failed me, in all of your attempts,” her spell fizzled away with her magicka diminishing, and she lowered her hand, staring at him through the glass.

            “I should have just left you in that ally,” he sneered, his nose wrinkling so she could only assume he cursed her.

            She replied to him in her native tongue, “I should have killed you when you trapped me.”

 

 

            The vertibird landed and Maxson dropped down, Final Judgment heavy in his hands as he turned to watch Liberty Prime arrive. The massive robot spewed prewar propaganda that was near music to his ears. Each step sent quakes through the earth, shattering pavement and crushing cars like cans below his heavy foot.

            “Elder,” the power armored voice of Paladin-Commander Holmes summoned Arthur’s attention and he turned. The brother –triplet– of Lancer-Knight Holmes paused his approach and held his laser rifle across his chest. “Synths have been relaying in, sir, but we’ve been keeping them at bay.”

            “Excellent, with Liberty Prime here, we’ll be within the Institute before the hour’s end.”

            “Yes, sir, with luck,” he added and then fired on a few targets behind Maxson trying to shoot at Liberty Prime who openly ignored the shots and continued toward the old C.I.T, building, his scanner searching for a way in.

            “My condolences, for your brother, I never had the chance to speak with you privately before, Commander.”

            “I am simply happy I am here to assist in the fight, sir, to avenge him and make them pay.”

            Arthur nodded and turned Final Judgment toward the collection of synths teleporting into the battlefield that had taken over the courtyard. The fusion core in the gatling laser was at full charge, and he had a spare in the pack on his back with several other supplies. Normally a squire would carry his supplies, but as much as he felt squires should train under fire, this was too much for even them.

            Paladin-Commander Holmes kept close to him while his squad fanned out and opened fire on the synths appearing with each lightning strike. They seemed to just keep coming, sending their blue bolts at Liberty Prime and his soldiers alike. Watching his men fall only made his body harden more under the weight of his battle coat.

            Final Judgment roared to life, spewing red beams how he imagined dragon’s fire might look. The lasers cut through the synths, bringing them down as quickly as they were showing up.

            Liberty Prime sounded off before bending and using his eye laser to start burrowing a hole in the ground. It sent out shocks and threw up dust and debris enough to start to cloud the area and make it hard to see. The sweat on his face and neck caught the partials, causing Arthur grimaced as he squinted through the haze at the lightning flashes. His laser was trained on them, unleashing a near constant fire.

            “Elder!”

            Maxson turned as a synth came at him, brandishing a shock baton. The abomination swatted the gatling wielding man, but received the heavy weapon coming up and bashing the plastic of its face right off. He glared at the atrocity and then turned back to the Paladin-Commander as Liberty Prime broke through sending loud cracks like thunder rolling through the yard.

            “We’re through!”

            “Assault Team Rhine, go!”

            Maxson approached the scalding crater and felt the waves of heat from the soil, and the cool air from the Institute mix as it came up. As fresh and clean as the oxygen was, it made him sick, and Arthur wrinkled his nose before stepping forward to descend into hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shit is about to get bloody. 
> 
> (Warning, we're coming up on the end, probably no more than five chapters after this...)


	31. Hellfire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inside the Institute, blood! and blood! and weapons! and fighting! and blood!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hellfire ~The Hunchback of Notre Dame
> 
> This chapter was... harder(?) for me to write. Turns out that fight music did NOT help me, and instead I had to listen to my 'smut playlist'. WEIRD. But here it is, doesn't go down quite the way I thought it was going to.

            Skaddi looked up as the building shook. Alarms started to sound and red lights flashed, like when she and the lancers had tried to escape.

            She stood close to the glass and watched as three men in leather coats came up to stand outside of her cell. One of them was the one she burned. She had hoped he had been killed in the mess before. Michael had gotten a few with the blue laser weapon, but there were just too many –and MacCready was too good of a shot.

            At that thought her body tensed and she glared at the synths. The Brotherhood was attacking, and they would need help finding her. She remembered the long halls that Glass had ran her down. How long would it take them to find her alone?

            Skaddi drew in a breath and whispered, “ _Laas Yah Nir_.”

            Before her the world darkened and the beings in front of her lit up like lights, their life forces bright across the whole of the Institute, growing pale only with their distance. She could see all of the bodies racing around, looking for cover, preparing for attack –and then the close-knit group, farthest from her, coming deeper into the underground fortress.

            It was the Brotherhood.

            A wicked smile crossed her lips and Skaddi stood back from the glass. Then she filled her hands with two fireballs and pushed them together. One of the guards noticed and grabbed his gun, narrowing his eyes while the other two turned and stepped back. They were all curious if the spell would breath through the glass. Well, time to find out.

            Skaddi through the ball and it smashed into the clear wall with enough force to throw her back to the wall and made her ears ring. Blinking, the Skaal tried to steady herself and looked up to see she was being grabbed by one of the leather wearing men.

            She wrenched her arm away and then kicked her leg out to get him in the shin. He yelped and she grabbed him by the head and pulled it down into her knee. The man’s body went limp and she grabbed his weapon, throwing it at the other leathered being coming her way so that it struck him in the head and dropped him to. One left.

            That one opened fire, aiming for her legs, but she lifted her healing spell. This was nothing compared to running up on a minigun.

            Skaddi leapt onto him and threw her arms and legs around him, grabbing him under the jaw and wrenching it back to break his neck. Then she rode him to the ground and used both hands tear the red guard’s head off.

            What had he been called? X6-88?

            It did not matter now she was holding his head up to look her in the eyes. His were already blank, the beginning of hazing, and were as wide as his mouth hanging open.

            The door behind her opened and Skaddi turned as blue bolts shot out to strike her, burning through her white uniform into her skin and causing her to yell in pain. The Dragonborn threw the head at the closest metal head and then lifted her healing spell to seal her skin as she advanced on the plastic faced synths.

            The Skaal woman dodged an attempted at a bash and grabbed the weapon, turning to smash it up into the metal jaw of the robot, and snap its head back. Then she ripped the gun from its hands and kicked it into the wall so that it landed in a heap before her, trying to get back up. She pressed her boot into its chest and then looked down the sight of the gun, how MacCready had showed her, and fired, causing the head to crack and part. Then she lifted the gun up and continued to pull the trigger, the kick nearly nonexistent as the blue bolts shot out and hit the walls, floor, synths, and glass cell walls.

            She did not claim good accuracy, but she was able to take more hits than the synths, and when the last one fell, she lifted her spell. Skaddi took a deep breath as the ache in the back of her head told her that her magicka was waning. She would not be able to continue this level of healing.

            The Dragonborn climbed the stairs to the open door and pointed the gun down the hall, both ways, how Reagan and Danse used to before stepping through doorways fully. She wished she would have had them teach her how to use these guns –these were the only weapons she had now, unless she picked up the lightning sticks, and they would do little to the robots.

            Footsteps, and Skaddi turned, preparing the clunky white gun in her hands for whoever came around the bend in the hall.

 

 

            Maxson stood behind Holmes as the power armor absorbed most of the blue bolts. He had nearly depleted this fusion core, and they had only just gotten through the old, scorched portion of the Institute that left him rather underwhelmed. Now they stood in what appeared to be the farming section of the Institute. The white walls, ceilings, and floors that surrounded him now were closer to what he had expected, and it only aided his distaste for the place.

            The Elder stepped out from behind the power armor and unleashed the last of Final Judgment’s fusion core on the synths that came from deeper within this hell.

            Once they had dropped down into the hole created by Liberty Prime, Ingram stepped around him and confirmed she would get the relay up and going as soon as she was able.

            He had the pulse fusion charge in his pack and gave the order they were to find the reactor and the Dragonborn ASAP. He wanted to get out of here at the earliest chance possible. So far they had only lost two men, but he knew more were going to die before they will make it out of here.

            “It looks like the whole place is on lock-down, sir, you’re going to have to find a way to over-ride it and get the doors to open –the same with the relay,” Ingram called over the intercom. Maxson’s glare hardened and he nodded.

            “Poles, van Beist, and Holmes, go back to Ingram and keep her alive.”

            “Yes, Elder.”

            “Yes. Sir.”

            “Yes’sir.”

            Arthur nodded and started forward, toward the exit of the farming area, “The rest of Rhine, on me.”

            They followed close, and Maxson took this time to change his fusion cores. A knight slipped in front of him when he slowed, and opened a door. The Elder allowed the man to check the corners and step out ahead of him, his laser rifle held up and skillful.

            “Tracking multiple synth targets,” he informed and then stepped out of the way, allowing Maxson and the rest of them through.

            Then the shooting began.

            The knight fell right into Maxson as he absorbed the shots fired from the Elder’s right. Arthur tried to ease the soldier’s fall to the ground best he could, but the dead man fell like a corpse and breathed, “Ad Victoriam,” before closing his eyes.

            The Elder opened fire, his gatling laser tearing through the party of synths marching their way in neat rows. They matched each other in perfect sync in only the way robots can. The abominations fell as quickly as they were firing. Several times he felt the sting of the bolts piercing his flesh, but it was nothing compared to the burning rage in his chest.

            There was a muted explosion he could barely hear over the buzzing of Institute weapons and humming of Brotherhood lasers. He stopped his own to listen, but heard nothing and glared around. They were in some sort of atrium with trees and grass growing more green and lush than anything he’d ever seen. It looked unnatural with the crisp, clean water cascading down toward the center of the room where glass elevator sat. He would remember that for later.

            A door opened and Maxson turned his gun toward it, the men behind him focusing on the synths in sight. Fire fell out of the threshold and scorched the white ground with the quaking echo of what sounded like a voice speaking. His brows drew together and his hands tightened on the gatling laser as three synths were thrown through the door and landed in burning heaps across from it.

            Then Skaddi came running out, dressed in the crisp white uniform that matched the synths he and some civilians taking cover. He didn’t have the chance to relax or call out to her, because blue bolts flashed out from the doorway and struck the Dragonborn, causing her to throw her head back and scream.

            Her hair was falling out of the tie it had been pulled up into and now fell around her face and passed her shoulders. She didn’t even look his way as she turned around and bared her teeth at her attacker.

            The Elder raised his gun to shoot, only to stop himself right as Final Judgment started to turn. Another Skaddi stepped through the doorway, her hands wrapped tightly and… awkwardly around an Institute laser pistol. She fired on her twin with the same curled lips and hiss.

            Arthur wanted this place to burn.

            They were dressed the same, both suffered from laser weapon wounds. Their hair fell onto their shoulders, and they both screamed at each other in the tongue of her homeland. The one without a weapon grabbed the shock baton beside her and rushed forward, leaping back and forth to keep from catching any more bolts. The one shooting was having a hard time keeping her target in her sights despite the close range –lack of practice.

            He wanted to believe the first one he saw was the real Skaddi, because she was not using a gun, and had opted for the baton sitting right beside the laser pistol. But the one with the weapon she so hated was by no definition an expert or comfortable with the hunk of plastic in her hands.

            The one with the shock baton bashed the one with the gun, hissing as she took a direct hit to the abdomen. The one with the gun kicked the one with the rod and fired the gun again, but it was out.

            By now the shooting behind Maxson had come to a near end as almost everyone was distracted by the display before them. Few synths remained, coming up only to get shot down as quickly. Arthur held Final Judgment ready, incase one of them gave him the information he needed to tell them apart.

            The one with the gun threw it down at the other lying on the ground, who lifted her arms to block it. She hissed as the weapon cracked something and her hand started to move to cast a spell, but the one on top kicked her arm, reaching down to grab the shock baton away.

            This resulted in her being electrocuted and she growled, throwing her foot into the side of the one on the ground.

            “Sir! What do we do?”

            “Until we tell them apart, nothing,” he growled.

            “The one on the ground is using magic,” a knight pointed out.

            “Trying to and successfully using are two different things,” Maxson rumbled.

            The one holding the baton rolled away from the one on top and grabbed her side, then noticed the Elder, her ice blue eyes lighting up.

            “Arthur,” she breathed and the one that had had the gun turned to look at him also, the same relief washing over her face.

            Then the baton whipped across the unarmed one’s face and she hit the ground. Maxson stepped forward. Which one? He just needed a definite sign. Something that could prove to him who was who.

            Any little sign.

            The one on the ground sucked in a breath, and the one with the baton stomped onto her stomach to force it out in a scream. It was like Arthur had caught the blow as well, feeling it in his chest.

            He hated seeing Skaddi’s face in such pain, and he didn’t think he could just stand here much longer and allow them to kill each other. Why wasn’t one of them using magic? Which had shouted the fire before? The unarmed one kept trying to use magic while the other prevented it… but his gut told him not to move, not to act, that he didn’t have enough facts yet.

            The one holding the shock baton stood over the other, and pressed the rod down into the other’s chest. The woman on the ground screamed and arched her back against the white floor, grabbing the stick, but only making the shocks worse. The one over her sneered with bared teeth and whispered words in her mother tongue. The one on the ground shook her head and looked at Arthur now, her eyes pleading as she cried, her body writhing.

            The one standing over her with the shock baton pulled it back and then kneeled, so she was sitting on her stomach, and grabbed her by the jaw. She spoke, her word clear as she forced the other to look her in the eyes.

            That one was Skaddi.

            The Dragonborn snapped the rod against the ground to break the end and then jammed it up the other’s jaw into her skull, shocks pulsing through both of them. Red blood squirted and sizzled with the lightning, and before she was drawn under with the copy, the Skaal stood up and turned back to look at him, blood spattered over her face and dripping from the hand that had held the other’s face still.

            The body convulsed below her, a pool of blood painting the white floor.

            Arthur came forward, toward her and her breathing began to slow. Skaddi swallowed hard and looked around.

            His steel eyes flicked down to the body under her and then back to her. She closed the distance and heaved a breath, looking up at him with soft, icy-blue eyes.

            “ _Dii jun_ ,” she whispered and reached up with her clean hand to hold his face. _My king_ , he remembered her saying that was what that meant. He offered her a nod, the smallest smile curling his lips.

            “We have to find a way to override the lock down,” he said, but knew she couldn’t understand. Her gaze flicked to his lips and she lifted her spell, easing away the last of any doubt he had in her as the black orb fanned out into a spinning disk.

            “I will be at your side, _dii jun_ , lead on,” she waved and he nodded, taking point.

           

 

            Skaddi used the last bit of her magicka to heal herself up as best as she could. That synth had been even closer to her than the other… it… thought it was her. It had spoken to her as if _she_ were the synth and tried to Shout and use magic only to find that there was no power to her.

            It was comforting to know that they could not copy that over.

            Arthur carried a heavy gun that looked similar to the miniguns she hated so much –though this one was made of the same materials as the laser weapons the Brotherhood used, and fired the same red beams. It suited him. Like a war hammer among swords. She liked to see him wield it, turning to pour the red lines out on the synths that came at them.

            He handed a box over to another soldier, and then guided her to the lift in the center of the room, the one that had nearly brought her and Michael to safety. She thought about that, how he had looked right passed her and saw what was to come. How could he have known the sniper that walked among them would be the one to kill him?

            Now her heart pounded and she looked around, at each of the balconies to see if MacCready was standing ready to shoot her or her company again. She saw the cracked hole and touched it. She wondered if they had gotten out with the civilians? The Brotherhood did not bother to cut down the unarmed.

            She hoped that if he wanted to live, he would not show himself to her again.

            The lift went down a level rather than up, and Arthur stepped out. It was only the two of them and a suit of power armor, the others were ordered to stay back. Dim hallways welcomed them as they walked along through the odd thresholds. Eventually they came to a door and Arthur hit the button to open it showing a small room. He frowned and turned to address the suit of armor.

            The other man nodded his understanding and turned to stand guard. Then Maxson stepped inside and tilted his head for her to follow. She did and stood close beside him in room as the door closed and they started their ascent.

            Skaddi touched his arm and he looked over at her, his steel eyes hard, his breathing quick, and she knew his heart was racing from adrenaline. She leaned in and touched his lips with hers, causing him to stiffen before returning the gesture. The rough of his face scratched at her skin and she swore tonight they would make the most passionate love to each other.

            Nords were known to return from battle and do such things. Wives would always grow pregnant in mass when their husbands returned from battles or wars. Now she would join them, a wish she had always had and never voiced.

            They stopped and the door opened. Skaddi didn’t want to part from him, but he tore his lips from hers and stepped forward, drawing her behind him. She was unarmed, but she was able to Shout and soon she would have magicka enough for a spell or two, as long as they weren’t too demanding.

            The room was large, larger than Maxson’s quarters, with a smaller glass enclosed space within it, child’s toys lying on the ground. Her brows drew together as Arthur glared at it and continued moving, his hand tight on the heavy weapon in his hand. A bad feeling started to creep up her spine and she touched his shoulder, causing him to pause and look back at her before they stepped through another doorway.

            Skaddi reached into his coat and found his knife and held it, lifting a brow to ask if it was all right that she took it. He nodded and then they passed through the threshold. Another room, with the slate flooring and white walls like a lot of the rest of the Institute. Then her man walked over to stairs that seemed to be floating, sticking out from the wall in such a way she hesitated before taking a step, though he didn’t look twice at them.

            Arthur’s face twisted further and he shifted his gun while Skaddi came up to see what he was glaring at.

            “You must be the Director,” the Elder said to the old man, Shaun, lying in an odd bed.

            The old man all but ignored him and looked at Skaddi. “It appears the synths were no match for the original…”

            “Did you think you could just draw on her DNA and be able to create something with supernatural abilities?”

            “With enough research and time,” the old man breathed and finally looked at Arthur. “Anything is possible.”

            “You’ve gone too far.” The Elder’s voice was hard and cold.

            “And you’re close minded,” the older spoke, his own face twisting to match the man before him. “How much greater humanity can be with our aid, and here you are, destroying it all.”

            “You have stricken the Commonwealth with a plague of fear and distrust. You steal human life and replace it with abominations posing as loved ones,” Arthur shook his head. “It ends. Now.”

            “Not by your hand.”

            Skaddi and Maxson turned at the sound of Nate’s voice. The slight man was holding a laser rifle, pointing it right at the Elder, and had pulled the trigger before the Skaal could draw in a breath. The beam passed by her and she didn’t look at Arthur before she charged forward, the knife held tight.

            Nate fired several more times, then used his gun to bash her arm as she tried to strike him. It burned and she hissed before withdrawing her hand and thrusting it back forward. Nate was a narrow thing with quick reflexes, and managed to keep stepping back and to the side to keep from catching the blade.

            They moved through a doorway, into a room that looked like a personal quarters. A woman with blonde hair was clutching a child in the corner.

            “Nate!” she screamed and held the boy tighter, against her chest.

            Skaddi didn’t look at her and kept trying to get a good stick in him. She grazed him several times, slicing right through the white coat, down to the flesh of his lightly tanned skin. Red stained the cloth, and he yelped before turning his gun on her and fired several times. The hum was near deafening with her standing so close. She could feel the burning heat of the beams sear right through to her body and burrow holes in her.

            The woman screamed again, causing the boy to as well and the man looked from them to the doorway. Skaddi took that moment to kick his weapon away and back him up against the wall, the knife plunging deep into his abdomen.

            Nate coughed and looked down at the wound she’d just given him, and then at her, his face twisting in pain and hate.

            “You’ve ruined everything,” he spat at her, blood tainting his saliva. Then his hazy eyes shifted over to the woman and child. “I love you, Nora… Shaun…”

            She drew the knife sideways and opened his belly so that all that was within spilled out onto the ground between them. She told him in her mother tongue, “You should not have deceived me.”

            Then the Dragonborn withdrew the knife and grabbed him by the hair, tilting his head back and cut a deep line across his throat, finishing him off and painting her front with his blood.

            The hysterical screams from the woman were cut off with a sharp crack and Skaddi turned back to see MacCready in the doorway. Behind him was a boy clutching his leg. He looked at her, then turned to head deeper into the room, toward Shaun in the bed.

            Skaddi looked over at the woman and boy. One shot and they both were dead, lying in a bloody heap together. She didn’t linger and followed after the sniper, her sticky hand tight on the knife.

            MacCready was kneeling beside Maxson giving him a stimpak. The Elder had ended up on the ground while she fought Nate. Her heart hammered and she started forward, stopping when the Elder’s face came into view and showed the wound he’d received.

            A red beam had caught him in the face, right across his left side, burning a hole right under his eye, across his cheekbone, and back through his ear. He must have shifted just enough before catching the shot to save himself from taking a direct headshot. She stepped forward again as MacCready tossed the stimpak away. She knelt down beside Maxson and pushed his battle coat over to get a better look at the burns in his chest.

            The Elder’s breathing was labored; some of the shots had landed in his chest, burning right through to his lungs. She could see the holes and knew the only reason he wasn’t dead was because it had cauterized the wounds –but if the sniper had not given him the stimpak, he probably would have died.

            “Thank you,” Maxson breathed in a near groan.

            “Yeah, well, you’re welcome,” the skinny man sighed and looked over at Skaddi. His sky-like eyes were wary and she felt her body begin to tense.

            The little boy came forward and touched the sniper’s shoulder, drawing both of their gazes. He shared the same odd blue with his father, and had the same sandy brown hair. He was a cute thing with odd little blue scars on his paled flesh. He looked barely old enough to be carrying himself around as he was, and even so, held tight to his father’s coat.

            Skaddi’s anger near melted away and she frowned between them. When she lifted her spell she said, “I should kill you.”

            “I’m surprised you haven’t,” he said back and looked up at the old man lying in the bed. “One of the shots got Shaun…”

            “He died easily, then, no pain,” she stood and looked at the old man who was staring at her with dead eyes, a burned hole awkwardly positioned in his cheek.

            Maxson started to move, sending his hard stare at MacCready before getting up. Skaddi traded out her translation spell for her healing one and ran it over him quickly, finishing what the stimpak had started. He looked at her, his face twisting quickly into disgusted anger as he noted the blood on her body and touched the burns in her shoulders and chest. She didn’t have enough magicka to do much to him, let alone heal herself, but she didn’t think she was so badly injured.

            She gave him a comforting look and moved her muscles enough to convince him she was all right, and kept back her winces of pain.

            Maxson went to the terminal on the desk and typed into it, making a frustrated grunt a few times before finally sighing in relief and started to flip through his options. The Dragonborn looked at the boy, Duncan, standing beside MacCready, staring up at her from behind his father’s leg. Children had always been a weak spot for her. She wanted them so bad, as many as she could, and she just loved being around them. Now here was this boy, the one she had threatened to kill in front of the man that had betrayed her, clinging to the traitor’s leg because he was the only safety he knew.

            She had to kill MacCready… make him pay for what he did.

            But he had saved Maxson before she could, and even if she would have beaten him to the Elder, there was no guarantee she had the magicka to heal him as much as the stimpak had with her magic.

            Skaddi frowned to herself. She was making up excuses not to kill him now. She needed to be honest with herself.

            She didn’t want to.

            The alarms shut down and Arthur nodded, turning back to her. “The others will set the charge, we need to leave.”

            MacCready tossed his sniper rifle over his shoulder and knelt, wrapping his arms around the boy and said, “We’ll leave when we get out, and you’ll never see us again.”

            “I don’t believe she’s done with you, civilian,” Arthur frowned and then Ingram’s voice echoed through the room.

            “Hold still, I’m locking onto your positions and relaying you to the detonation site. When they set the pulser, I’ll send them out to you so you can flip the switch.”

            Skaddi started to take a step forward but Maxson shook his head and held up his hand, bending to grab his weapon before standing still. She frowned and then lightning flashed, blinding her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I KNOW! I KNOW! REALLY? ANOTHER SYNTH SKADDI?  
> But come on... we both know you wanted to see this happen. Hard to tell the difference when they're fighting each other. And like the Institute wouldn't have made more than one. You're lucky there wasn't a small army of them xD  
> How many of you guessed who was the real Skaddi correctly?
> 
>  
> 
> P.S. I'm not going to lie, what happens next might... hurt.


	32. Colors of the Wind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teleported!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prepare for foreshadowing for the Sequel!

It was freezing, and for a moment, Skaddi had no idea where she was. Somewhere high where the air was thin and the wind bit down to the bone. Her vision started to come back to her as she listened to the howling rush by her ears and felt the sting of the frigid gusts.

            She was overlooking a massive landscape that stretched until the clouds made it too hazy to make out clearly. The sky was overcast with near black tuffs of a silent storm brewing. Everything was dark, no raw of the sun able to pierce the veil. There was only one thing wrong with the sight, though.

            It wasn’t of Commonwealth buildings.

            It was of the wilds of Skyrim.

            Her breathing stopped with her heartbeat as she realized where she was and what had just happened. Skaddi looked to her left, horrified to find the Shrine of Boethiah towering over her with Arthur strapped up to the pole and MacCready and his boy Duncan kneeling on either side.

            “ _Did you really think I would just let you go, Dovahkiin_?”

            The voice sent chills up her spine, and she shuddered, looking around to see who was speaking. “Show yourself to me,” she said with more courage than she felt. She was in the Institute provided uniform, nothing more, and the only weapon she had was the Arthur’s knife –a rather unimpressive dagger when compared to those of Skyrim.

            “ _You know how this works. You must face my champion, regain my favor, and sacrifice those who trust in you_.”

            “I don’t wish to be your champion!” Skaddi hissed and spun around to run over to Arthur. A shield came up over the three, keeping her out, preventing her from getting closer. She hissed at the purple-blue mist and threw her fist at it anyway. It only burned her skin.

            Arthur looked up, dazed, and blinked, meeting her stare before turning his head to see he was restrained with his arms behind him against the pole and his legs pinned at the base. His heavy gun was between his legs in front of him as if he’d dropped it. “Wha–What is happening?” he growled, his face contorting into a nord-like anger. Skaddi lifted her spell so she could speak to him, understand him, though she didn’t need to have the spell to know he was confused as to where they were.

            “Boethiah brought us to Skyrim.”

            She could see his jaw snap tight and almost feel the tension in his body. “Why am I restrained?”

            “She wants me to sacrifice you to her,” the Skaal said carefully and Arthur nodded before noticing MacCready and Duncan on either side of him.

            “ _My champion awaits, Dovahkiin_.”

            Skaddi swallowed hard and looked up at the sky. “I’m not going to hurt you, Arthur,” she whispered, returning her pale eyes to him. He gave her a single nod.

            “I trust you,” he said and she smiled despite the situation. “I love you.”

            “I love you, Arthur.”

            “ _Dragonborn!_ ”

            Skaddi stiffened at the summon and turned to look down the path to see an ebony wearing warrior with Sanguine’s Rose in one hand, a long, thin ebony blade in the other, as well as a golden glowing sword on his hip and a gnarly mace paired on the other. She could just make out the heavy war hammer on his back.

            Her heart stuttered and she glanced sideways at Arthur whose head hung weakly. He looked like his energy was being syphoned.

            The Dragonborn started down the path and the ebony mail guarding her foe lit up with a sickly smoke. She felt her heart drop to the ground. There was no way she could win this fight with Shout and magic alone.

            Just as she sucked in a breath and the man took a step back, beginning to cast the dremora that Sanguine’s Rose summoned, thunder clapped and something massive struck the ground between them so hard they were both thrown back with the force.

            Skaddi shook her head and stood up quickly, seeing her patron Daedra standing before her, his face twisted in the most unholy anger she’d ever seen. He turned his attention to the ebony wearer and plucked him from the ground, his body growing in size to stand the size of a giant.

            “You _dare_ steal my champion from me, Boethiah?!”

            The warrior’s legs kicked and he grasped at the wrist holding him up. “ _She was mine before yours, Sanguine_.”

            “And you forsake her! She praises _me_!”

            “ _I will not allow her to return until she slays the men_.”

            “That is not up to _you_ ,” Sanguine dropped the man and Skaddi heard him hit the ground in with a heavy thud, cracking something. The Daedra turned to her and came toward her, shrinking to the size he normally held around her. “Steady,” he breathed and looked her over, his voided eyes narrow. She wondered why he looked as if he cared so much about her well-being. Because it somehow reflected him? His champion should be strong and formidable?

            Sanguine’s gloved hands hovered over her and she felt her wounds fade away. He tilted his head at her and gave her a nod. Then he stepped back and snapped his fingers.

            Skaddi felt heavy, suddenly, her entire body wrapped in something thick and weighing her down. Lifting her hands, she looked through her helmet to see the daedric gauntlets Sanguine had given her. Then he turned around and bent, picking up his rose from beside the man trying to stand now. The Daedra held the staff up and hovered his hand over its length. The stem shifted and the rose bloomed, changing until he held it out to her. It was an axe now –her favored weapon– with the petals of the flower fanned out to be a razor sharp blade on either side of the sturdy stem handle. It fit in her hand well and she smiled up at him through her helmet.

            “Thank you, Sanguine.”

            “Slaughter him, and I will send you and your lover home, my little _Dovahkiin_.”

            She nodded and decided not to think about what would become of MacCready and his boy. “In your name then,” she replied and he smiled at her, showing his pearly teeth beyond his black flesh.

            Then he stepped back and waved her forward. The ebony mail flared with its green-black smoke and Skaddi could see her own armor take on a similar mist, but with a red tint. She held the axe up and ready as he came forward, both hands on an ebony blade she’d never seen before.

            Instead of dodging the hit, she allowed him to smack her armor, making the suit flare, but also, a red essence left her and she felt a wave of nausea roll through her. The blade syphoned life. She hissed and allowed their misting armor to mix, hers trying to over take him as he bashed her over and over with the two-handed sword, while his threatened to poison her, filling her lungs with tar. Skaddi threw her fist into his face, shattering the helmet with the force. Unarmed attacks were stronger with these gauntlets.

            Her lips curled as her love for her Daedric Prince grew.

            She could hear his echoing laughter behind her as he felt her affection grow. She enjoyed the sound, it fueled her in a way. But what made her push forward and swing her new axe harder, was the thought of returning to the Commonwealth with Arthur. Marrying him, bearing his children, and fighting by his side.

            That was what was going to get her home.

            Home to the Prydwen.

            Home to Arthur’s arms.

            Skaddi’s axe sunk deep into the mail of the armor, the thin petal-blades so sharp they cut right through. His sword could not break through the hard daedric armor she wore, but the syphoning of her health was clouding her mind and making it harder and harder to focus on dealing hits.

            She needed to let him hit her, though, so that her armor’s damage shield would grow more powerful, and she could see that he was nearly overtaken by the reddish cloud.

            If only it wasn’t so hard for her to breath. Her airway was sticky, and her throat closed itself when she tried to swallow.

            This was not the first time she had to fight while holding her breath. The attack on Whiterun had been all smoke, the entire city burned as the Stormcloaks launched burning boulders over the ancient walls and wrecked the city’s streets. They would still be rebuilding now, but she had not worried about the state of the Hold’s Capital while fighting the guards and imperial troops.

            Imperials. Backwards people if you asked her. They treated their women like property, as wombs for themselves. And the women allowed it. Nord women were as tough as the men, standing beside them rather than behind. Yes, nord women birthed children, but it was seen as an honor, not an expectation.

            It had been too easy for the Stormcloak troops to bring down the central capital. Balgruuf had been exiled, as a respect to his honor, and his household cast from Dragon’s Reach.

            The other champion bashed her in the helmet, turning her head to the side so that she felt the muscles in her neck burn. The Skaal woman hissed and bared her teeth, though he could not see it, and growled loudly.

            Skaddi spun, her axe coming up to slice at his neck, opening it up and spraying hot blood onto her. She relished that feeling, the sticky drip of blood staining her skin, running down her armor, trickling from her blade’s edge like a steady rainfall.

            The Dragonborn grabbed the crippled helmet and pulled it back off of his head. He was a young orc with heavy bruising around his bright yellow eyes, a smashed nose and thick tusks coming up from his lower jaw. His head was shaved clean save a single knot of hair on the top, with his jaw bare, showing all of his scars. But she was no impressed as he choked on his own blood, sullying the slick black armor he wore.

            She grabbed him by that little bit of hair and took a half a step back so she could swing her axe and sever his head. He chocked, but made no other noise as his body fell to the ground, limp.

            “Boethiah!” she screamed at the top of her lungs and looked up toward the heavens. “What of your champion now?”

            Sanguine came forward, took the head from her and then hurled it up into the air, straight towards the thick clouds above them. “Threaten my champion again, Boethiah, and this becomes personal,” he growled, his echoing voice rumbling deep within him before filtering out through clenched teeth.

            “ _You let this mortal claim your title when she will only forget about you and turn her back on you upon her return to that wretched world_.”

            “That is mine to deal with, and mine alone. Find yourself another champion, and tell our beloved family to do the same.” He held his hand out over the corpse beside him and the body and weapons turned to ash. She hadn’t even had a chance to really look at each of the daedric artifacts that the orc had collected.

            “ _You will regret this, Sanguine_.”

            “I’ll be waiting,” he answered and the clouds began to part. Sanguine turned his void-like eyes down to her and he smirked, wrinkling the red markings on his black face. “I keep my champion in mind when she keeps faithful.”

            Skaddi nodded, smiling up at him, “Thank you, Sanguine.”

            “Just… do not forget me, my little _Dovahkiin_. Do not prove her right.”

            “I will not forsake you,” she promised and he turned his attention up the path to where Arthur, MacCready, and Duncan were.

            “They are freed, go to them.”

            Skaddi ran up the steps and found Maxson getting up from where he had fallen forward and tripped over his weapon because of the awkward angle and weakness in his legs. “Arthur,” she called and ran to him, removing her helmet as she dropped to her knees beside him.

            She held his face and he coughed before looking at her, and then around. Steel eyes narrowed as white flecks of snow started to fall down from the pale clouds in the bright daylight. She smirked at his curious expression and he reached up to catch a flake. The nord woman watched as he love looked at it resting in the bloodstained palm of his glove before melting.

            She lifted her spell as he drew in a slow breath. “I’ve… never seen snow before,” he confessed and looked up at the sky again.

            The sun was coming out, spreading light over the morning, bringing the world into a mixture of brilliant colors from her whole imagination. The green trees pushed up a morning fog, making the stretch of landscape before them blur beautifully through the light snowfall. The Throat of the World stretched up into the clouds in the distance, and she could make out the outline of Windhelm, and _just barely_ the forest surrounding Riften.

            She kissed his cheek and he looked at her, his breath puffing out a hot mist. “I… never imagined…”

            “This isn’t even the most beautiful,” she whispered and his breath left him as he stood up to look out at world before him.

            MacCready crawled over to Duncan and brushed the boy’s hair from his forehead, looking him over. Skaddi turned to him and saw the sniper breathe in relief. “Oh, thank God, you’re okay,” he whispered and embraced his boy.

            “Daddy… I’m cold…” the little boy said, his breath showing in in a little white cloud.

            “I know,” he stripped off his tan jacket and wrapped it around the boy, leaving himself to the cold. Skaddi frowned and looked at Arthur who was still observing the landscape.

            “MacCready,” she said, coming over to him. He looked up and stood quickly, stepping between his boy and her.

            “Yes?”

            “You can stay here,” she said and his eyes narrowed. “There is no radiation here, and magic can cure your boy the rest of the way,” she gestured out at the horizon and his sky-like eyes turned to finally look at it.

            Just like Arthur his strength was stolen by the breath taking landscape, and he shook his head. “This isn’t real.”

            “It is, MacCready. This is Skyrim.”

            “No…” he whispered and touched his boy’s head. “We… I…”

            “You can stay here, I can give you directions to my house in Windhelm,” she pointed to the city. “It isn’t far, and the court wizard will be able to give you a translation necklace.”

            “I…” he looked back at her, brows furrowed. “Why? Why help me?”

            “I’m simply giving you the means to survive in this world like you gave me. After this, we will be even, and if I ever see you again, I will kill you, MacCready,” she said it so calmly, he blinked and then nodded, clearing his throat.

            “I… I can get us over there… what sort of wildlife is there?”

            “Bears, wolves, deer… dragons, but there shouldn’t be too many of those about,” she narrowed her eyes at the landscape and then looked back at him. “You’ll do fine. How much ammo do you have for your gun?”

            “Um,” he looked himself over. “Looks like eighteen rounds, plus what I have loaded,” he picked up his rifle from the ground and checked it.

            “You’ll want to have that enchanted so that it will never run out of ammo _before_ you run out, otherwise the enchantment will lock out the ability to load it,” she said and he nodded, his brows scrunching the space between them, wrinkling his nose.

            Maxson stepped up to her side then and looked down at the boy. Duncan stared up at him from behind MacCready’s skinny leg and looked over the Elder with a wary stare. Then Arthur knelt and held up the knife that Skaddi had dropped when Sanguine changed her into the daedric armor.

            “Protect your father,” the soldier told the boy who slowly reached out for the knife that was nearly as long as his forearm.

            MacCready looked down at him, and then at Maxson. “Thank you.”

            The Elder nodded and straightened up. “We have to get back. There’s still the matter of destroying the Institute…”

            “Aye,” Skaddi nodded. Then the sound of heavy footfalls made them all look up at the approaching Daedric Prince

            “This will aid you,” Sanguine said and dropped a knapsack down between them. “All the supplies a foreigner could ask for. And a map to point you to the allies of the Dragonborn.” He smirked and looked at Skaddi. “Including those two soldiers you sent here.”

            Skaddi felt her heart leap, and noticed Arthur’s own curiosity, and she picked up the bag, grabbing the map to look it over. Whiterun in the center had an L written beside a V and an A. Mixed with that was an SD. “Sebastian Danse,” she whispered and her brows drew together. But where was Reagan Knight? L would be Lydia, the V, Vilkas and the A, Argis. Her eyes flicked over the map, there was an R in Falkreath, but that would be Rayya. Then she saw it, near Solitude, by itself in the marshes. RK. “Why is Reagan not with Danse?” she frowned and looked up at Sanguine who’s expression was stoic.

            “I have busied myself with your affairs. But I know Hircine has taken quite the interest in that woman.”

            Skaddi’s heart faltered. That could… only mean one thing. That… Reagan had the beast blood.

            “Divines,” she breathed and stared at the map. “But Danse… is with Vilkas, they…”

            “You cannot worry about them now, my little _Dovahkiin_ ,” Sanguine said.

            MacCready nodded. “I’ll find out what happened, and I’ll… help Danse,” he said, his nose wrinkling, but he looked like he meant it. Skaddi watched his face and then looked down at the map, over the names.

            “It is time, my little Dragonborn,” Sanguine said and MacCready picked up the sack and looked inside it while Skaddi folded up the map and handed it over to MacCready.

            “That mountain there, that’s the Throat of the World, the center of the map, Whiterun is just on the other side of it, in the west. If you ever get lost, just find the Throat of the World.”

            MacCready nodded and then frowned and said, “I’m sorry, Skaddi. For everything.”

            “We’re even now, Robert,” she said and he blinked at the use of his first name. “Don’t make me regret this.”

            “I won’t.”

            She nodded and then turned to Arthur and Sanguine. The Elder was looking over the Prince’s armor, his gaze flitting to the giant sword on his back, and then to Skaddi. “Are you ready?”

            She nodded and the Daedra stepped forward, his hands resting on both their heads. “Back to the fallout of the Commonwealth with you,” Sanguine said and Skaddi squeezed her eyes shut as a black-purple void overtook them with a disorienting distortion of sound deafening her ears.

            When she opened her eyes she was standing on top of a building, overlooking the morning sun rising in the distance, casting the cityscape into long shadows. The morning fog rose up from the streets like it did the trees in Skyrim, and Skaddi turned her eyes up to the sky to see the spectrum of colors fading between the hues. Her eyes fell to her side, to Arthur who was looking over it all as well, seeming to have similar thoughts to her, but with one major difference.

            This was a site he’d seen before, and had decided would be the only home for him. He thought her home was beautiful, beyond this, and she agreed. To a point. But even with all of its horrible destruction and the perilousness of its landscape, it was stunning in its own right.

            Her new home. The Commonwealth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DON'T WORRY YOU HORNY ANIMALS SMUT IS ON THE WAY!
> 
> but no, seriously, what'd you think? Did you see that coming at all? And what do you all think of the Sequel I'm setting up for? Hmm? >u>
> 
> Coming up on this ending so soon! One or two more chapters!


	33. Set it Off

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to hit the button!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set if Off ~Descendants

            Skaddi took a deep breath, her eyes on the horizon as Arthur stepped forward and flipped open a box that covered a red button. His gaze flicked back to the men behind him, standing at attention in neat rows, and then to her, dressed in her full daedric armor, Sanguine’s axe on her hip.

            She was ready for all of this to be over, just as she was sure he was. The Dragonborn couldn’t even be sure how much time she’d spent in the wasteland. It felt like such a long time, but she knew it had only been a few months, if that. Still, she wanted to wake up in the morning with the knowledge that the events of today had cleared her obligations. She had agreed to help the Brotherhood of Steel destroy the Institute in exchange for a way home. She had gone home and decided she didn’t want that anymore. Instead, she wanted to marry Maxson and stay here with him. That was something she could do when this threat was behind them and she and Arthur were together in his quarters.

            Her gaze landed on his hand as he hovered over the button and looked off into the landscape, at their target. His entire being told those looking at him that what he was about to do was not done easily or without thought. He had been prepared since the beginning to do this if he had to, and it felt like no other should. Even Skaddi didn’t feel like it was her place to had she been asked.

            In Skyrim, Ulfric had given her the honor of killing General Tullius. She had felt it was her place that time. Tullius had been there in Helgen when she was sentenced to death for having walked into an Imperial ambush for Stormcloak soldiers she didn’t know of. Had it not been for Alduin coming in and destroying the town, she wouldn’t be standing here, and Skyrim would have been consumed by the World Eater.

            Tullius had been a physical representation of the Empire, and she was able to claim his death. The only death she could put above his had been the Emperor’s until today. Killing Nate Briars had brought her much more pride than it probably should have. But it had been personal with him, making his death sweeter.

            This was different. This was for the Commonwealth. And that meant it was Arthur’s place to end them.

            His hand dropped, drawing her eye to him, and the button clicked.

            Skaddi’s breath stopped.

            The soldiers behind her audibly stiffened.

            And nothing happened.

            Maxson looked at the detonator, and then into the distance before pressing the button again. His steel eyes narrowed and his face twisted before pressing it three more times.

            Skaddi started to take a step forward, but was stopped by an overwhelming distortion of sound and a void opening beside her. She hadn’t expected to see Sanguine again so soon, but she was even more surprised to see him holding Sheogorath by the collar of his purple and orange suit.

            The Elder turned around, frustration obvious on his face until confusion graced his brow and narrowed his eyes. The larger Daedra dressed in heavy armor dropped the white haired man to the ground in front of him and put his fists on his hips.

            “As it turns out, Sheogorath here is not so pleased with your choice to give his gift to those soldiers,” his voice was a low, resonating growl in his chest, showing his distain for the other Daedra.

            “What has he done?” Skaddi frowned at the mad man cackling on the ground in front of her.

            “Tell them, Sheo,” the Prince of Debauchery growled.

            “You should check for moles and rats in your ranks, Elder,” he chuckled and looked up at Sanguine. “Tis only a joke. Never meant it to… blow up in my face such as this,” he started to chuckle again, and stood, his hands waving as he spoke. “Rodents make such bad company on ships…”

            Sanguine lifted his hand and snapped his finger. The air grew static and thin with thunder rolling through the ground, quaking the earth and shaking the building they stood on. Light shone in the distance so bright the sun was shamed, and Skaddi had to look away while a cloud sprouted up like a mushroom. Arthur stood beside the Skaal and circled an arm around her, keeping her from the blinding light. Her pale gaze flicked up to Sanguine who glared over at it, his void-like eyes staring directly into the brightness.

            Sheogorath stood up and looked over the soldiers, and then up at the other Daedra who now turned his glare downward to him.

            “There’s a mole in the Brotherhood?” Arthur finally voiced, but Skaddi didn’t know what he said.

            “Yes,” Sanguine slapped his gauntlet-guarded hand over the back of the head of the smaller man and added, “Tell them what you’ve done.”

            “It isn’t _my_ fault!” Sheogorath smiled over at Skaddi and Arthur. “I simply introduced two people who had common interests.”

            “Who were…?”

            “One of your soldiers, such a nice one, liked those machine-made men.”

            Skaddi’s brows narrowed and Arthur stiffened. “Who?”

            Sheogorath giggled and shook his head. “No-no-no, that’s no fun. You have to _look_ for the rodent, I can’t just tell you!”

            Sanguine hissed and bared sharp teeth at the other Prince. “I’ve grown sick of your games, and this is _me_ , Sheo. Now you have toyed with my champion, and I do _not_ tolerate such action. Ask Boethiah.”

            “It was simply a punishment for her turning her back on me _again!_ ” The suited man straightened up and dusted off his clothes. He turned his mad eyes on Skaddi and pointed, “I trusted you.”

            “And you gave me a means to save my friends,” she said, lifting her chin. “I am so thankful, Sheogorath. Without you, the outcome would have been different and more than likely would have ended with me killing Danse, and ultimately Reagan, as I know she would not have allowed me to harm the Paladin without defending him.”

            The Daedric Prince narrowed his eyes and tilted his head, desperately wanting the praise.

            “You helped me more by giving me the gem and allowing me to use it on them rather than on myself,” she smiled at him and placed her hands on her hips. “The perfect solution. I could not have asked for a better outcome. Because now the Brotherhood doesn’t have to worry about Danse returning and _threatening_ them,” she added with a frown, but tried not to look sideways at Arthur. She didn’t want him to feel anymore uncomfortable. He couldn’t understand her side of the conversation, and she could feel his heavy steel gaze on her. “You are truly a wise Prince, Sheogorath.”

            “Oh, stop it,” he smiled and flicked his hand to silence her. “I’m just a mad genius.”

            “Yeah,” Sanguine sighed and stepped closer. “ _Tell them who the mole is_.”

            Sheogorath growled to himself, frustration obvious on his face, “Oh, you used to be so much fun. Has the radiation here affected you so?”

            “If you wish to keep that head on your shoulders, you will stop toying with me.”

            Sheogorath waved his hands when the other Prince lifted his hands toward his great sword. “Yes-yes-yes, I’ll spill, _I’ll spill_!” He sulked and rolled his eyes, “The woman.”

            “Which woman?” Arthur asked.

            “The one with the orange hair and the distrust in your precious knight friend,” Sheogorath said, his gaze on Skaddi.

            “Scribe Haylen?” the Dragonborn scowled. She was the only person that she could think of that fit that description, seeing that the scribe had pale orange brows –her hood having hidden the rest of her hair from view– and didn’t like Reagan. She would have thought about O’Conner had the woman’s hair not been very painfully obviously _red_ not orange, and she seemed rather indifferent toward Reagan, rather than distrustful.

            Sheogorath shrugged his shoulders, “I never cared to learn her name.”

            “Haylen?” Elder Maxson’s voice pulled Skaddi and she looked at him. Names translated it seemed.

            The nord woman lifted her spell. “The only one I can think.”

            “She had feelings for the machine-made man you stole from this land.” Sheogorath chuckled. “I introduced her to another who had similar views of her own. He works with many faces and has great distrust of your men, Elder.”

            “Who is he?”

            “I do not know, nor care. I told you, I simply did this as a…” he tilted his head side to side before shrugging and lifting his arms, “Well let’s face it, I don’t really think things through, now do I?”

            “So you set Haylen up with someone so she could turn on the Brotherhood?” Skaddi asked to clarify.

            “Well… yes-yes-yes, I did. But in my defense I thought it would be funny.” He shot a glare at Sanguine who was frowning with his arms crossed. “She changed out the switch with a fake one to allow her friends time to disarm the explosive you placed…” his attention slide over to the fading cloud in the distance and Skaddi looked over to see the crater that now took up roughly the span of Whiterun. “I don’t think they worked fast enough…” he added with wrinkled nose and mild disappointment.

            “Where is she?” the Skaal growled and he shrugged.

            “Probably with her man,” he lifted a brow and then Sanguine huffed.

            “She is in the gem-city. Speaking with the robot about noodles.”

            Arthur nodded. “I’ll send some men to pick her up.”

            “I’m going,” Skaddi said and he frowned, but nodded. “I’ll return tonight,” she smiled and cupped his jaw, meeting his eyes. Since the fight in the Institute he’d felt so distant, but she knew it most likely had to do with his men being so close.

            “I’ll be waiting,” he told her and she leaned in to kiss him. He pushed into it, allowing his mouth to copy hers in the affection and warm her. Then a soldier behind them made a whistling sound and a comment she couldn’t understand as her spell fell away. The Elder stiffened, but then pulled her closer, hands on her armored hips.

            There was what she’d been missing. Even in the lift he hadn’t kissed her like this. His tongue infiltrating her mouth and his tongue grazing her lips. She smiled and was the one who pulled away this time. She lifted her spell and smiled at him, “Tonight.”

            It was a promise. And it made him nod once and smirk.

            She liked seeing that, he didn’t smile all that often, and smirks like that were even more rare.

            “I’ll have a vertibird take you to Diamond City.”

 

 

            Her Brotherhood escort was Paladin-Commander Holmes and Knight van Beist in power armor with Knights Poles and Birr dressed in combat armor. Lancer-Knight La Mastus and Lancer Driskell had landed the ‘bird some ways outside the gem-city, meaning that she and her guards had to walk up the narrow, rock streets to the gates. She had made it a point to learn the names of the soldiers with her. She hadn’t learned the names of the first Lancers that died while escorting her, and it had hurt her, being blamed for their death but feeling nothing for them. Now she would know them at least by name if something were to happen, and she planned to try to get to know them better as they spent more time together.

            La Mastus and Driskell stayed with the ‘bird, both of them armed while the four foot soldiers guided the Dragonborn up the stone road. As they approached a large green gate that was lifted up, rather than opened side to side, Skaddi noticed the guards wore some sort of pale, leather armor, and had grates over their faces and strange eye shields. Most of them had their guns slung over their backs and held short clubs across their chests.

            They stared, their heads turning to follow after her in her heavy armor, surrounded by guards. It must have been quite the sight with the suits behind her and the ‘naked’ soldiers in front of her –as she heard them call those without the power armor sometimes. Their jargon was quite interesting, and something she hoped to catch onto once she learned English without her translator. Quinlan had mentioned being more than happy to help her, and to teach her to read so that she could help more with translating the books she had brought over. It had been her plan to have Argis write up the means he would need to translate them, but his time here had been cut short…

            Skaddi didn’t have time to linger on thoughts of her housecarl because they stepped into the city and she felt her breath leave her in a surprised gasp.

            It was… a city. A real one.

            Small, but she could see the shops, the lively people walking around, bartering, talking, and arguing. Guards walked around on their patrols, pausing to stare as she followed her escort to the center of the city. Eventually most of the city was looking their way, and she felt her cheeks going hot behind her helmet.

            Knight Birr stepped away, circling the colorful tent in the middle of the town square. She could see an odd robot with a chef’s hat standing in the shop, wobbling back and forth to serve customers.

            Commander Holmes marched forward, his heavy footfalls causing those with their backs to him to look up. Skaddi recognized one of those faces, and felt a sigh slip out from her lips. Haylen was in civilian clothes, and sitting beside a man in a white shirt. She remembered him. The one that had gotten away at the Railroad Head Quarters.

            Skaddi picked up her axe from her hip and started forward as the Commander drew his weapon and started to speak to Haylen. She stood up quickly and threw her hands in the air, protesting as the man in the white shirt slid off his stood and started to back away.

            Not again.

            The Skaal skipped forward several steps, drawing the man’s eye and he froze, shock stilling him like a rabbit before the jaws of the snake. Skaddi didn’t hesitate and swung her axe before he could recover and his head fell from his shoulders, rolling until it hit Haylen’s boot. She shrieked and turned on the Dragonborn, her hands immediately going to her laser pistol.

            The city erupted into gunfire and screams, hysteria taking over as civilians hit the ground and took cover while others opened fire on the Brotherhood soldiers, both from her group, and the soldiers that had already been here, picking up supplies.

            It only took her a moment to realize they were all Railroad agents that had been blending in. The city guards were ushering people out, and seemed to try to decide who to help, but wisely kept out of it.

            Several shots struck Skaddi’s armor, but the mist only flared up, drawing more gunfire her way, resulting in a bigger mist. She threw her axe at anyone who got too close, the razor thin blade slicing right through them, opening necks and torsos to spill blood and internal organs onto the wooden walkways.

            She stopped only when the hum of laser rifles did and the last Railroad agent was kneeling before her with her axe stuck in his collarbone. The nord ripped it out and kicked the body over with a huff and turned to see Haylen had been killed at some point, and way lying face down beside the white shirt wearing body. She had wished she could have spoken to the scribe, learned what turned her against the Brotherhood, but she thought she knew.

            Sheogorath had said she had feelings for Danse, that she liked the machine-made men –synths– and he had simply introduced her to someone with similar views. The man with the white shirt worked with the Railroad and they helped synths. It made sense that since she had cared for Danse that she would find comfort in shared opinions with someone who also viewed synths as humans. Skaddi couldn’t be sure if they were, or not, but she knew that Danse had gotten Reagan pregnant and, despite that, Arthur wanted him killed for what he was.

            She would not side against Arthur, even for Reagan and Danse, but she had been so relieved that he had allowed her to send them away. Maybe if Haylen had known what her Elder had done for the Paladin she would not have done something so stupid.

            A sigh fell out of Skaddi and she removed her helmet after placing her axe on her hip. The Brotherhood was searching bodies now and speaking with the guards to work things out. Knight Birr came up to her and offered her a can of water. She smiled and took it, bowing her head as she met his dark brown eyes. He replied with a fist over his head and nod, then went to Poles and van Beist who were helping civilians.

            She wished she could understand what was being said. She didn’t want to use her magic here, not with everyone watching. It made her feel… out of place again. Bringing her back to how she wasn’t from here. How much more could she get out of place than standing in the center of the gem-city in full daedric armor, armed with an axe, and unable to understand a soul around her?

            Skaddi was ready to go home. To the Prydwen. To Arthur.


	34. Far Longer Than Forever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Technically the last chapter. This is the end! The next chapter will be an Epilogue! Bring the last of everything together with some feels. We have some smut in here, fluff, fluffy fluff, and some feels (in my opinion) at the end. Hope you all get and appreciate the ending! I spent a little bit of time on it, figuring out how I wanted it to flow!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Far Longer Than Forever ~Swan Princess

            The Elder of the East Coast Chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel was lying face down in his bed, dressed in only a pair of jeans, with his woman –or girlfriend, depending on who you asked– sitting on him, massaging the tight muscles of his back. Soft groans slipped out when she worked knots that she had somehow missed the last time she did this.

            He had fought her at first. Said she probably needed it more than he did. But she had nearly pushed him down onto the bed once they stripped each other of their armor and most of their clothing. He stopped protesting when she sat on his rear and hugged her powerful thighs against his side, running her hands over the scarred flesh of his back. She used her knuckles, fists, and elbows, getting deep, but the whole time, she could only think about turning him over and loving him.

            That could wait until he was relaxed, though.

            “Skaddi?”

            She lifted her spell, “Aye?”

            He paused, turning his body some so he could look at her better, and ended up propping himself up on his elbows and looking at her over shoulder. “With the Railroad and the Institute destroyed, and the Minutemen neutralized… the Commonwealth is safe…”

            “Aye,” she tilted her head, wondering what he was getting at.

            “We will need to make plans to return to the Citadel in the Capital Wasteland. Some of our forces will remain here, but a majority will return home.”

            “And I’ll come with you,” she leaned forward, slipping her hands under him so she could press her chest against his back and rest her chin on his shoulder. He looked down at her spell and nodded.

            “I was hoping you’d say that.”

            “You feared I would change my mind?”

            “It was a small fear,” he confessed and angled his head so his temple pressed to hers. “We can teach you English… make another necklace for you in the mean time. But there’s something else we need to discuss.”

            “Hmm?” she shifted as he rolled over under her and then pulled her close against his chest. Skaddi met his steely eyes and adjusted herself on top of him.

            “We’ve talked about it, but I don’t think I’ve ever asked you appropriately,” he said and she felt her heart start to pick up. Arthur grabbed her by the hips and pulled her closer for a kiss before he tipped her over onto the bed beside him, and then removed himself, standing up and going over to his coat –which was hung up in its spot by the door. His hand dipped into the pocket and then came right back out with a small box. “I’ve had this for a long time. Before I became Elder, I knew the responsibility I would have continuing my name…” his shadowed eyes clung to the small black box in his fingers, turning it over and over as if he were studying it for the first time.

            Skaddi sat up and he came forward, stopping in front of her. She had no idea what he was doing, what the box was for…

            “I thought it would take me _years_ to find the right woman.” He sighed, “I worried that the other Elders would set me up with someone, or that I would have to settle for someone who didn’t care about me.” Arthur took her hand and pulled her up so she stood and she looked from his face to the small box. “I didn’t think I would find what I was looking for in you, Skaddi. When Danse brought you to me…” he shook his head.

            She smiled at him and turned her face up, “When I heard your voice and saw you, I knew you were a true son of Skyrim. Someone that I could put my trust in, and that I would surly follow until the end of my days. This–” she rested her free hand on his chest, “–between us is more than I had thought would happen. But I would change _nothing_ in my past for fear of losing what I have with you.”

            “Here, when a you wish to marry, you ask for your lover’s hand and present them with a gift. Before the war, it had been done with engagement rings, a tradition not all can continue in this wasteland, but something I had always been intent on doing myself,” he lowered himself to one knee in front of her, how men did when they pledged allegiance to someone. Then he opened the small black box and Skaddi’s pale eyes were drawn down to the band tucked into the plush inside.

            It was steel –of course– and had a shine to it, smooth without a mar in its surface. Centered was a purple gem, imbedded into the metal so that if you were to run your finger over it, you could not feel the difference –it would not catch on anything when worn.

            “Is… that a–?”

            “Soul gem, yes. I had the diamond removed and changed out after we were able to secure the quarry.” He smiled up at her. “Skaddi Ice-Hunter, Skaal, Dragonborn, Defeater of Alduin the World Eater, Thane of the Nine Holds of Skyrim, Leader of the Thieves Guild, Listener to the Dark Brotherhood, Harbinger to the Companions, Champion of Ulfric Stormcloak, the true High King of Skyrim, as well as the three Daedric Princes, Sanguine, Sheogorath, and Nocturnal –will you do me this greatest honor, and be my wife. Be my Skaddi Maxson, stand at my side, fight at my back, spend every night until forever ends in my arms with yours just as tightly wrapped around me. Allow me to be there for every moment of hurt and pride you experience, and accompany me for mine.

            “Let me make you the happiest woman in the world, yours and mine, and agree under your gods and mine to be to me, just as I will be to you, belonging to one another in the most exclusive way. Allowing nothing between us, unless our individual beliefs or duties become threatened.” The Skaal woman had spent a lot of her childhood dreaming of the day a man would ask for her hand, and never had it looked like this, but she couldn’t think of a way to make it any more perfect. His words fell from his mouth in a natural flow, as if he didn’t have to think about them. But his breathing was uneven, and she could feel his heat rolling off of his skin showing his nerves. “Allow me to give you children –all that you wish,” he held her free hand, looking up into her face. He could see she was running out of magicka, but he didn’t want to just cut this short, he wanted this to be perfect. “And love you in every way, every day, for the rest of our lives.”

            “Yes,” she said, her spell fading away then, and his pout lips spread into a wide smile to show her his teeth –straight and beautiful. Then he took the ring from its soft cushions and then lifted her hand and slid it into place. It was tight, and he murmured something with a gentle frown she guessed had to do with resizing it, but she was looking at that soul gem resting in the dark steel that matched the metal of the Prydwen around her. Tears filled her eyes, pricking and stinging them. Arthur looked up, then and saw them; he stood up to hold her face before they could spill over.

            “Skaddi,” he whispered with some other words, and she sniffed against the emotion wetting her nose.

            “I love you,” she breathed, her voice soft as she gazed into his steely blue eyes, seeing that fire start to catch. “Arthur.”

            There it was. A spark growing like a wildfire, catching and igniting in his irises, turning the colors, making it look molten. She felt it all the way down in her stomach, and he didn’t hesitate once she bit her lip.

            Arthur picked her up and pressed her down into the mattress, his weight more than comforting on top of her. His mouth caught her in a trap, somehow still tender despite his use of teeth, leaving tracks in her skin as he worked from her swollen lips to the sensitive flesh of her neck, and then down to her collarbone.

            His hot hands slipped under her uniform and got her out of it quickly, practiced now that they had done it several times. She was more than pleased with the speed now. It wasn’t too fast, and it was antagonizing slow. She wasn’t the sort of woman who wanted to be opened up slowly and treated like a fine wine. Skaddi was a bottle of Ashfire mead that nords and dark elves alike cracked open swiftly, then drank deeply.

            Arthur was doing just that.

            His mouth on her made her cry out his name over and over to the point she couldn’t breathe and was panting, grabbing at the sheets of his bed, pulling them up off the corners. He didn’t even notice, his attention was on her face or down between her legs. Large hands cupped her breasts while callused fingers pinched and twisted her perked nipples, sending shocks down to her core, winding up burning coils in her belly while he seemed to try to reach it with his tongue –delving deep into her.

            The Dragonborn came, whispering words that made the Prydwen shake. Arthur simply laughed from his vantage point amid her thighs and continued at what he was doing, using his fingers this time. It didn’t take too long to feel the heat burning again, and for her legs on his shoulders to start writhing.

            This time he pulled back before she could be released and she growled in protest. He climbed up onto her so she could feel his bulge against her sensitive mound. Arthur slipped his hand up under her arm and then found a strong hold at her dark roots and tugged on her hair, drawing her head back to expose the curve of her throat to him. His mouth marked her, sucking a bruise into her skin that will tell any and all that saw it what happened. That was, if they couldn’t hear it.

            The walls and floor were metal, and the door was not sealed, just closed, muting the sounds from within, but not silencing them completely.

            She should have been embarrassed or wanted to keep quiet.

            But she didn’t.

            Skaddi cried out his name again and arched his back as Arthur shifted his hips and then pushed up into her, filling her in a sudden thrust. The Skaal’s body quivered as she came, but he didn’t stop, and instead tightened his grip on her hair, latched his mouth onto her right tit, and then because a relentless rhythm, pounding into her with enough force the bed collided with the wall over and over.

            Her body was so confused, coming down from a high as he drove her right back up. His teeth threatened her peak, but never harmed it –his control was beyond praise worthy. The Elder knew just what he was doing, having already thought several steps ahead and knew the outcome of what he was going to do. The nord loved that about him, his ability to learn and adapt to a situation or task within moments.

            She had never known anyone but Arthur, and he had only been with one other, once. Now, they were near familiar enough they didn’t need to speak save in praise.

            Arthur’s mouth leapt to her other breast and he sucked on it hard, grazing the perk with the point of his teeth as he did so. The Skaal’s body arched and she came again. It was so much to take in, him engulfing her, his hands squeezing and holding her, pulling on her hair, rubbing her clit, digging sweet marks into her hips, and the while his mouth marked her breasts and nipples, and growled words of love, her name mixed in.

            The young Elder slipped an arm down under her leg and hiked it up, spreading her wider to him, and pushed in deeper. She could feel him hit the bottom, and yelped when he did so.

            He whispered a soft couple words in her ear and kissed her cheek sweetly after that, and slowed his pace, turning the pace around completely. Her arms circled him and pulled him close, drawing her nails over his back so that he knew she still enjoyed this, just as much. Her leg hooked over his shoulder and secured him in front of her while the other hung on his hip to pull herself closer when he thrust into her.

            The fiery steel of his eyes was hidden behind his lids as he squeezed them shut, telling her he was coming up on his end quickly. His features twisted into a mask of determination, his slow pace dragging his length through her in such a way they could both feel _everything_.

            Skaddi’s fingers locked onto the roots of the hair topping his head, her other hand clung to his shoulder with her nails biting into his muscle. His forehead pressed against hers, his own touches latched onto her hip and tangled in her locks, pinning her leg up between them, to the point it was almost painful, but her body was very nearly numb.

            Arthur withdrew and then pushed down deep inside, hard and she gasped as he snarled her name. Her body clenched around him as he came, milking him for his see. Both of them desperate for her to conceive, she was honestly surprised that she didn’t have any signs of pregnancy yet –she and Arthur had been together many times, none of them had he finished anywhere but inside her– but she had not gone to Cade to have a test, so she couldn’t be sure if she was just one of those women who didn’t get sick.

            Her Arthur released her leg and she let it fall back to the bed. He kissed her, his lips sweet and tender now as he cupped her face and embraced her lovingly. Whispers passed between them, and she knew they were telling each other the same things…

            “I love you…”

            “I hope we’re pregnant…”

            “I could be no happier than I am now…”

            Skaddi relaxed as her man’s mouth moved to her neck and he licked up the salty sweat that dampened her skin. She wouldn’t change a single thing in her past for fear of losing this moment with him.

 

 

            “Just another minute, Skaddi,” Cade smiled comfortingly, and she nodded, swallowing hard against the emotions rising in her throat. Now she knew how Reagan had felt waiting for the test to be completed.

            It had been three days since they blew up the Institute and in that time she had made a new translation necklace and was learning English with Quinlan. Ever the definition of health, she was getting worried about her pregnancy status, and with plans for her and Arthur’s wedding only adding to her stress, she knew if she wasn’t already with child, it wouldn’t happen until after the wedding at the earliest.

            Arthur had wanted to be here for the test, but he still had things to do with his men, orders, papers, reports, things that she didn’t understand, things that were always above her or handled by those under her. Even in Skyrim, she was the ‘leader’ of organizations, but her inability to read had meant that when it came to paperwork, the job was passed on to someone else, and she was just there to tell them what she wanted the end product to be.

            She wished he was here.

            Instead, she was sitting on the ‘gurney’ they called it, waiting for Cade to tell her if she was pregnant. Reagan had at least had her there. Skaddi just had Paladin-Commander Holmes standing in the doorway, his hands behind his back as he looked out into the hallway, giving her the most privacy he could without leaving her.

            She cleared her throat and he looked up. “I don’t know if Arthur told you, but your brother died without pain.”

            Holmes nodded once, his face a mask. He looked exactly like Dallas, but he wore it so differently. He was a little bigger too, thicker with muscle and didn’t allow his hair to grow as long as Dallas had on top, but wore the same style. He came toward her, and kept his light grey eyes down. “Thank you, ma’am.”

            “I was carrying him. He was unconscious,” she explained and he looked up to her, his features locked in a stoic mask, but she could see right into those grey irises and see the pain and need he was suffering from. “He was shot in the head right on my shoulder,” she turned slightly and pulled the flight suit down to show him the wound and he nodded. “Michael was… devastated.”

            “He and Dallas were friends, not the best but…” he swallowed and she watched the thick apple bob in his throat.

            “What’s your name?”

            “Lincoln,” he answered and she nodded.

            “Call me, Skaddi, please,” she added and Cade stepped up to her, holding the little device that would tell her if she was pregnant or not. Lincoln looked over at it and frowned, dropping her heart before she even saw Cade’s expression.

            “I’m sorry, Skaddi, it’s negative.”

            “Oh,” she breathed and felt her heart rate hammer at her chest. “Oh,” she repeated and looked down at her hands.

            “I’m so sorry.”

            She nodded and cleared her throat, trying to keep from letting tears out of her eyes. “It’s all right, there’s so much to do now. The gods simply don’t feel it’s the best time,” she said and slid off the gurney. “I’m going to go do some exercises. Commander, will you accompany me?”

            “Of course, ma’am–er, Skaddi,” he corrected and they left the sickbay.

 

 

            Arthur had been shocked and… upset that she wasn’t pregnant. He wasn’t mad, and his feelings weren’t pointed toward her, but she could see the disappointment in his eyes. It hurt her. So she busied herself with planning the wedding with Quinlan and Teagan who were in contact with the other Elders.

            Since Arthur was an Elder, his wedding would have been a big deal anyway, but add to it that he was the last of his name, and the day was nearly considered a holiday. She never thought she would have such a large wedding. At most her village would attend, and when she had traveled to Skyrim and learned their ways, she saw the Temple of Mara and how large it was –most of the city could fit in it if needed– but she hadn’t expected more than a few handfuls.

            The numbers that Quinlan was estimated was nearly the population of Solstheim including the bandits and animals…

            Skaddi stared at the papers, the numbers and letters meaning nothing to her, but they echoed in her head from what Quinlan had told her.

            “… walk you down the aisle?”

            “Uh, what?” she glanced up and blinked at the older man, meeting his eyes through his clear eye shields.

            “Normally the father of, or a prominent man in her life, would walk the bride down the aisle. I was simply asking who you plan to have escort you?”

            “Oh,” she frowned. Her father was dead, had been for years, and Argis was locked in Skyrim. “I…” she didn’t really know. Michael was dead, Danse was away, she was marrying Arthur, and she didn’t know Lincoln well enough to think it appropriate. She swallowed looked up at him, “I’m not sure, Proctor.”

            “Please, it’s Oliver, Skaddi, I believe we’re on a first name basis by now, yes?” he smiled at her. She had insisted he call her by name, it was… strange to be referred to as Dragonborn when she no longer sought to return to Skyrim. But just now, with those words, her head tilted and she smiled.

            “Would you?”

            “Excuse me?” he lifted a brow, confused at the shift in conversation.

            “Would you walk me down the aisle, Oliver Quinlan?” she asked, clarifying.

            “I–I…” he blinked at her and dropped his clipboard. “I–are you… sure? There’s no one else?”

            “My father has long passed, and the only man whom I am close to, other than you, is the one I’m going to marry. So… if I am going to be walked down the aisle, I should like you to be the one escorting me.”

            She followed his eyes as they flicked over to his desk, to the picture of his late wife and daughter –two beautiful, dark skinned women that he had told her about once or twice upon her asking. They had both been killed by super mutants, and since then he had been a bitter man to most. All but Skaddi, who had given him so much in the way of research that he had even begun to… care about her. She could see it in his genuine smile when she walked in, and how he asked her how she felt because he wanted to know, not because he was writing it down for study.

            Now she was giving him back what was stolen from him. Sure, she wasn’t his daughter, but now he could do at least _one_ fatherly thing….

            “Yes, yes, of course I will, Skaddi,” he said, looking back at her and she perked up, standing so she could circle the table and go to him. He held her hand, his were icy and felt fragile in her strong, callused ones. “Thank you for this honor.”

            “The honor is mine, Oliver,” she slid her arms around him and hugged the old Proctor. He was a slight man, less than half her size, honestly, but his robes and collar made him look and feel bigger.

            “Are we interrupting?”

            Skaddi looked up to see Arthur standing in the doorway with Teagan at his side.

            “The Dragonborn was just asking me to walk her down the aisle, sir,” Quinlan stepped back from her. He hadn’t hugged her back, but she had felt him relax some under the contact.

            Arthur smiled at that and then turned to the Proctor beside him. “We need your measurements for your dress, so we can have it started and ready for alterations when we get back to the Citadel.”

            Skaddi nodded and then looked him over. “What will you wear?”

            “Generally the groom wears a suit or tuxedo,” Quinlan explained.

            She nodded and then grinned, “In Skyrim, noble men wear clothes, but warriors wear their armor decorated in fine cloths.”

            Maxson smiled a little wider at that and Teagan chuckled, “Get married in a suit of power armor. Sounds like a Brotherhood thing to do…”

            “We’ll see,” he said and then bowed his head to excuse himself and stepped out into the hall to return to his business and Teagan came forward, holding up a folder.

            “We have to go over some designs and decide what you want, then we can have it made.”

            “Very well,” she sat down and looked at the papers that Teagan pushed toward her.

 

 

            Standing at the forecastle, looking over the landscape as it drifted by, Skaddi felt the first _true_ wave of calm overtake her since she had come to this wasteland. She was dressed in a button up, with jeans and boots, her hair braided out of her face and down her back, still damp from the shower she’d taken when she woke up.

            Arthur was busy, meeting with his men, giving orders, doing the part of leadership she had always neglected. Because she wasn’t the leader that everyone made her. Skaddi was a soldier, a weapon, and sure, she could lead, but she didn’t _want_ to. It had simply been easiest to turn down the College of Winterhold, and she had planned to appoint new names in her stead when she returned to Skyrim from visiting her mother in Solstheim.

            Now they would have to find their own way without her. She hoped that Argis would at least visit with each of them and tell them what happened. He was too honorable to lie. Nazir would find it comical surly, he always had a great sense of humor that never waned, even her mood was less than favorable. Brynjolf would no doubt be upset, he wasn’t one to take charge and now he would have to find a new Guild Master, _again_. Vilkas was already speaking with Argis and Danse with Lydia, so he had to know what had happened. And… as for her other housecarls… they would guard her home until they died or were told of her disappearance.

            Skyrim would move on without her, just as it had before her.

            She did her part for them.

            Now it was time for this world.

            Skaddi could feel it all wash over her. The heat of the day. The force of the Prydwen’s acceleration. The radiation that tainted this land…. The fear of what came next. It was the end of her world as she knew it –all over again.

            She closed her eyes. She saw her life before all of this. Before she fell into this world. Everything can change in an instant, and the future you plan for yourself shifts –whether or not you’re ready. At some point, it happened to everyone.

            This… wasn’t the world she wanted; but it was the one she found herself in. Earth, her new home. Ripped apart by a long lost war, and put back together by the survivors.

            She thought she… she hoped she could find her way back to Skyrim. Cheat the will of the Daedra. Act like this never happened. Be the way she was before.

            But now, she knew. She knew she couldn’t go back. She was apart of this world now.

            The road ahead was going to be hard. But this time, she was ready.

            Because Skaddi knew war.

            She was built for it, lived by it, was molded by it.

            And war… war never changes; no matter the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PREPARE FOR THE ULTIMATE WEDDING IN THE NEXT CHAPTER.
> 
> Felt a little sick posting this >.< Like, it's over... I know I have one more chapter, but... oh my...


	35. The Bells of Notre Dame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Maxson Wedding.
> 
> And Final Chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Bells of Notre Dame ~The Hunchback of Notre Dame

            Skaddi stared at herself in the mirror. She had been afraid she wouldn’t recognize herself…

            The other Elders were confused about her origins, and less than pleased that Arthur would marry someone like her –‘threatening’ his family line. The fact she wasn’t pregnant yet only made them more apprehensive and worried about if she could supply him with the heirs they so desperately wanted from him. And the moment the Prydwen got to the Citadel she had been bombarded with questions and doubts. It was right back to learning she was the Dragonborn all over again. Expectations and lack of faith.

            Teagan and Quinlan had helped her design a dress that she would be comfortable in and that was a beautiful mix of Tamriel and Earth. But the other Elders were less than pleased. They demanded an ivory dress –as white was saved for virgins of which she was no longer one– made of fine cloth, heavy with too many layers, mounds of fabric that would hide her in the shape of it and make any movement without assistance impossible. She was not to carry a weapon –there was no reason for her to have one– and she was to wear makeup, paints and lines to make her face more pleasing to look at. Her hair was to be piled high and curled in such an unnatural, but beautiful way, to keep it from her neck so she would not perspire –or rather, show it. Her nails –hands and feet– were to be trimmed, smoothed, shaped, and painted. Any flaws in her skin –freckles, scars, or blemishes such as the pale splotch on the right side of her jaw– were to be covered.

            It was all so much to take in.

            It was all so much to accept.

            Skaddi had been under the impression that she would get to plan her wedding, and it seemed she would as long as she was on the Prydwen. The moment she stepped off the vertibird, though, her control was lost and everything she’d asked for was discarded in favor of what the Elders wanted.

            Arthur tried to talk to them, but they always had reasons for what they did. More commonly than not it was something along the lines of, “It is tradition. And if you’re going to marry someone so different, the least you can do is marry her _our_ way.”

            Skaddi wanted to care less. It was just the wedding. It wasn’t like they were coming into her and Arthur’s lives and telling them how to live. But since she was a little girl she had had the image of herself standing beside her husband-to-be in a specific dress, holding specific flowers, her hair done a specific way…. And that had been taken from her.

            Wasn’t this day supposed to be her happiest yet? Weren’t the tears prickling at her eyes supposed to be from joy? The nausea she felt from excitement?

            Thank the divines for Quinlan….

            Skaddi had been given her gown and several scribes to help her put it on, and as she sat in front of the mirror to allow them to paint a new face onto hers, a knock rapped on the door.

            “Knight?”

            “Hey, yeah, I have the Proctors here, Quinlan says there’s a change in plan, this is her dress,” Knight Rhys’s voice came from the door and Skaddi turned around and tilted her head.

            He was standing in front of Quinlan and Teagan who were politely standing back so that they weren’t looking in. Rhys was freely looking at each of the women with a quirked brow and lopsided smile. Skaddi stood up and looked from the giant ivory mass that hung on the wall, waiting to be put on, to the fabric lying across the Knight’s arms. He was dressed in a black suit with no tie, his white shirt open to show his throat and some chest hair. She smirked at him and he gave her a wink before coming into the room. Quinlan and Teagan followed behind, each holding pieces of armor that Skaddi immediately recognized.

            “How did you–?”

            “Oh, come now, my little _Dovahkiin_ , you didn’t think I would allow you to wear that wretched thing…” a familiar voice came from the doorway and Skaddi’s pale eyes jumped back to look at the human form of Sanguine. Sam Guevenne. He was dressed in a _very_ nice a combination of black and white cloth, accented with the Brotherhood orange that their flags were made of. But he was wearing armor with it, mixed into the fabric so that the metal and cloth worked together to give him the same eloquent aesthetic she had originally wanted in her own dress. His long hair was styled back from his face, cut closer on the sides than normal, making him look more like a Brotherhood soldier than someone from Skyrim. She blinked at him and then smiled widely.

            “Why are you dressed like that?”

            “Your dear fiancé is about to wear something very similarly, now, if you would,” he gestured to the dress and the scribes nodded, getting back to work. “And don’t touch her face, she needs none of that disgusting paint you’re trying to cover her with.”

            “But…” one woman frowned and Quinlan shook his head.

            “Follow the order, scribe, he outranks us all.”

            She opened her mouth, but then closed it. Quinlan definitely outranked her, so there was nothing she could say to him. Skaddi grinned as they put the paints away and started to open the dress for her. Her heart swelled as she looked it over.

            “It’s perfect.”

            “Of course it is, my little _Dovahkiin_ ,” Sanguine came up and held her shoulders. “I made it straight from your designs.”

            She circled her arms around him and he chuckled. “Thank you, Sanguine.”

            “Get ready for your big day. Sheogorath, Nocturnal, and I are watching.” Then he pulled back and smiled down at her “You have many gifts from your guests. I hope you can tell which are from us,” he stepped away from her and headed for the door.

            “How could I not?” she tilted her head and he gave her a wink before leaving. Then the Dragonborn looked at the dress Knight Rhys was holding. “The Elders won’t be upset?”

            It was Quinlan who came forward, “Let them. This day is for you and Maxson. You have done nothing but bring your culture to ours and in fantastic fusion that _you_ are happy with.” He was dressed in a black suit much like Rhys, but he had a bow tie about his throat in the orange of their chapter, matching a fold of cloth in his jacket pocket. In addition he had the scribe chain about his neck, giving him a very similar look to Sanguine’s armored clothes. The mixture was… refreshing, not clashing, but its own style. She loved it. “You should smile more than cry this day,” he rested her armor pieces down on a table and came forward, to her.

            Quinlan, she never realized until now, had become a father to her. It was sealed in place now, with him holding her hands and smiling at her. Very near the same height, but she dwarfed him in body, while he did the same to her in mind. His eye shields had been cleaned so they shone clear, and his brown hair styled smoothly, parted on the side and swept away from his face. The crease of his mouth was softened with the small smile that he graced her with. “You’ve truly made my time here better, Oliver.”

            He cupped her face then and leaned in, kissing her forehead with reserve. She felt tears drip down onto her freckled cheeks as he did this, something that her father would have done. “And you, Skaddi, have done so much more for me than I can express.”

            He was talking about more than his research. She’d given him something to care about, someone to display affection to without showing ‘favoritism’ as would be perceived if he were to get to close any of his scribes. Skaddi gave him back probably the most important part of his life that had been stolen from him.

            Fatherhood.

            “I’ll return once you’re ready,” he said softly and parted from her. “And then we will walk the aisle to Maxson.”

            Teagan chuckled and placed his part of the armor down and turned to her. “Gonna look real good in that, Skaddi. You did a great job.”

            “Thank you, Charlie,” she smiled and he smirked, wearing more similar clothes to Rhys as he also had no tie, but he did not allow his buttons to remain open as far down.

            They left and Rhys handed the dress over to a woman. Then he folded his arms and looked her over in her underclothes. She shifted some, she had a corset on with some shorts to keep her legs from rubbing together and getting uncomfortable. This left her bare from toe to mid-thigh, and from fingers to fingers, right across her bare shoulders and the tops of her breasts.

            “Arthur’s pretty lucky,” he said and came forward to adjust her necklace resting on her chest.

            “You think?” she looked up at him and he nodded, his dark eyes politely looking at her face. He stepped back while some of the women started to pull the dress over her.

            “Of course,” he answered when her head came through the top and she helped them adjust the dress over her breasts. The corset pushed them up and held them together a little more than she was used to. Her shoulders were now only nearly bare; the dress had ties that came up from her chest around her throat to secure her in place. “I mostly came to offer you this, though,” Rhys smirked suddenly and pulled a small flask out from his jacket pocket. She looked at it with narrowed eyes while the scribes fixed the layers of her dress.

            “What is it?”

            “Take a sip,” he handed it over to her and she took it carefully.

            When she opened it, she took a whiff and smiled. “Bad,” she chided halfheartedly and then took a quick swallow of the hard liquor.

            “There you go,” he smiled and took it back.

            Before she could say anything else the scribes were putting the armor on over her dress, hiding her shoulder under the layers of daedric like spikes of silver and gold. They had wanted her to wear ivory, but her dress was white, the purest she’d ever seen, and the armor would never hold up in battle, but damn did it look good.

            “Brings new meaning to battle dress,” Rhys chuckled and tipped back the flask. “You look good, Skaddi…” he left then, and she smiled to herself, feeling better now that at least this much of the wedding was how she’d wanted.

 

 

            “Skaddi, you look…” Quinlan struggled for a word and then smiled wide showing slightly cricked teeth. “Sublime.”

            Her cheeks flushed and she looked down at herself before the mirror a scribe was holding for her to see her whole body. The dress was simple, almost nothing to it but white, straight cloth –nothing like the embroidered, pearled, intricately designed ivory one that had been picked for her. The armor, though, was where the majesty was. It looked dangerous, but breath taking, shining in the light with the fine polish, bringing out the golden accents that lined it like the red of daedric armor. It clung high on her shoulders, and had plates down her sides, accenting her breasts and stomach until it reached her hips where more guards rested and gave her form an even more exaggerated look. The dress had a sort of tail, the back laced up in such a way that it copied the corset, and at her rear it was tailored up, folding over itself and then stretched down to give her a long train.

            Her hair was styled down, straight like the dress, natural how it was with barely a wave to it, but she wore a headdress that was near like a helmet, matching the armor on her shoulders and hips, made of silver and gold. It was a crown, if she was being honest with herself, her pale eyes locked on it. Similar to the Jagged Crown of Skyrim that she had gotten for Ulfric Stormcloak during the civil war. It had a chain veil hooked to it, falling down over her hair with precious metal chains hanging like frayed edges on fabric.

            Her upper arms were bare, as were her fingers, but her hands and forearms were covered with silver bracers to match the rest of her armor, with decorative spikes and golden accents. The last thing to add were her shoes. Sandals that had golden straps that climbed up her calf and clung to her form but left her otherwise exposed, near barefoot.

            Skaddi hadn’t noticed the door open and the additional woman step inside, so when she turned to add the sandals, her heart stopped and her lips parted. If she had been holding anything, she would have dropped it.

            Addimira Snow-Gazer, Healer of Hunters, Mother of the Dragonborn stood clothed in a fine dress with ice wolf pelts resting on her shoulders, her auburn hair tied up on her head with free curls falling down onto her neck. Her ocean blue eyes were bright with a sparkle that could have been from the tears that threatened her eyes. But her lips were turned into a wide smile showing her off-white teeth, looking bright against the tan of her face, while the dress showed the uneven color of her skin, parts of her were now exposed that had never seen the sun from the sheer cold that seemed be constantly looming over Skaal Village.

            “Ma?”

            “Skaddi,” she smiled and looked at her, those tears finally spilling onto her cheeks.

            “How did you–?”

            They were holding each other before she could get any more out. Her mother was far more careful than her, trying to keep from messing up the dress and hairpiece. “I could never miss my daughter’s wedding,” she whispered. Her voice was always so soft and warm, just like her smile.

            “Who brought you here?” the Dragonborn held her mother’s hands and looked her over.

            “That mad fellow,” Addimira chuckled and brushed some of her greying hair out of her eyes. “He said to tell you he is sorry, and he has other gifts to show he wants you to remain his champion…”

            Of course. Out of all of the Daedra, Sheogorath was probably the only one who wasn’t above begging. And that was only when he was in a good mood. She imagined a very pissed off Sheogorath would not be so kind.

            “Will you be staying?”

            “Oh, no, darling, this… is a strange world,” she frowned and looked up at the lights in the ceiling. “I… I couldn’t…”

            Skaddi felt her heart drop and she squeezed her mother’s hands tighter. “Then I will be without you again…”

            “And see where you got on your own? You do not need me, Skaddi,” she smiled, and her ocean gaze fell on Quinlan who was politely standing back. “And who is this?”

            “Proctor Oliver Quinlan,” Skaddi introduced him, and waved for them to greet. “This is my mother, Addimira Snow-Gazer, Healer of Hunters, Mother of the Dragonborn.”

            “Such a beautiful name for a woman even more fair. May I be so bold as to hold you accountable for your daughter’s magnificence?” he asked politely and took her hand, bowing to kiss it and her mother flushed, her eyes widening.

            She touched the necklace on her throat –enchanted to allow her to understand those around her– and blinked rapidly before looking over at Skaddi who was also staring at the Proctor with just as much surprise. “Oh my… Proctor that’s…” Addimira used her free hand to absently fan her face.

            “Oliver, please, my rank is Proctor,” he freed her hand, but held her gaze, his hazel blue eyes locked on her mother’s ocean ones.

            “Oliver…” she whispered, and then looked over at Skaddi.

            “He is walking me down the aisle, ma, in place of father. Oliver has become quite important to me, very supportive and helpful in this world,” she explained and her mother nodded, swallowing as she looked back at the thin man. Her mother was not as big as Skaddi, but she was still thicker than Quinlan, but not overwhelmingly so. Suddenly she was imagining the Proctor standing in Skaal Village, wrapped up in the thick furs to keep him warm, and his clipboard held securely in his glove while his eye shields frosted over. It brought a smile to her lips, and she wondered if they would, perhaps, work out together…

            “Thank you, for taking responsibility of my daughter,” Addimira smiled and looked over the Proctor with a careful gaze. He nodded.

            “It has only been a pleasure.”

            A scribe peeked their head into the door, “The organ is starting, you need to get in place.”

            Skaddi felt her heart skip, stopping and starting only when she looked between her mother and Quinlan. She was going to be married soon. To Arthur…. At least she had her mother here now. “Thank you for being here, ma,” she whispered and the older nord took her face in her hands.

            “Your father would be proud,” she said and smiled warmly.

            Skaddi nodded, “He would have loved Arthur…. Have you seen him yet?”

            “No, I came straight to you,” she pinched her cheek and then took a deep breath. “I’ll be in the second row on your side, darling.”

            “Aye, I love you, ma.”

            “I love you, too, Skaddi.”

 

 

            Earth weddings were more complicated than the weddings nobles threw in Skyrim. And she had –sort of – attended the wedding of the Emperor’s cousin. Of course, she’d killed the bride and groom afterward, but that wasn’t something she was worried about happening here.

            The Citadel was a fortress, a pentagon with enough soldiers and weapons to take over Skyrim in one swift battle if it so wished. Within, there were enough guards just around her now to make any attempt on her life futile. And if they could get passed the suits of armor and countless soldiers, they would have to deal with her magic and Thu’um.

            No, she was more worried about the other Elders. There were three of them, and whole one seemed to be indifferent toward her, the other two were near hostile, overruling anything that Arthur had to say while the level headed one sat back, frowning privately.

            They were about to be given something worth yelling about.

            Ahead of her were four young squire girls wore white dresses, looking more like the one she was supposed to be wearing. They each wore their hair up the same, piled high on their heads style how hers had been planned, and held baskets of flower petals. Behind the girls were four boys, also squires, holding their little hands on small, dull swords made of shining steel. The symbolism wasn’t completely lost on her. Each child stood for a chapter of the Brotherhood that was present today, the girls were her, the flowers fertility, the boys were Arthur, and the swords protection.

            Before she was ready, the doors opened and the music flooded the room Skaddi waited in. Her arm hooked through Quinlan’s was the only thing that kept her steady. They stood to the side of the entrance, keeping out of sight while they waited for their cue from the scribe who was directing them.

            The little girls were waved forward and started walking, matching the pace of the loud organ playing. She couldn’t see the instrument, but she could feel the vibrations it sent through the ground.

            When the girls were halfway up the aisle, sprinkling the petals as a bed to be walked on, the boys were waved and marched forward, in close sync, but just off how children could be. It brought a smile to her lips, easing her nerves some, but she held tighter to Quinlan’s arm, knowing that when the boys reached the halfway point, it would be time for her to go.

            It felt like an eternity.

            It was giving her way too much time to think.

            Her breathing was coming too quickly, and it made her head light. Her hands wrapped around her bouquet tighter, and she forced herself to inhale. She suddenly worried it had been a horrible decision to go with the dress Sanguine brought her rather than the one that the Elders had picked. What else had the Daedra changed? This was her new home. She was going to have to deal with these people on a daily basis now…

            Quinlan started to move forward, nearly dragging her. She didn’t notice the scribe waving for them to go.

            Skaddi couldn’t breathe.

            She felt faint.

            Quinlan’s hand on her arm squeezed, and she looked over at him. “Arthur is waiting,” he said softly and her fear slipped away with a shaky breath.

            Yes. Arthur was waiting for her at the end of this aisle. Now matter what was between her and him right now, they were getting married….

            The Dragonborn nodded and lifted her chin, looking ahead of them at the ceremony.

            The double doors were opened to the outside, the largest, most beautiful courtyard she could imagine in this wasteland. Pews had been added in neat rows and now overflowed with a sea of faces, few of which she recognized. Flowers of all sorts and colors fell from the armrests and backs to border the aisle in intricate bouquets, accenting the orange carpet stretched up to the altar that seemed so very far away.

            Decorative pillars had been placed with similar floral arrangements falling down at different lengths. Ropes were strung across the open roof with lights, vines, and foliage braided into it. The sun was low enough to cast the whole place into an evening shadow and allow the fires and dim lights to be the sole illumination, only adding to the beauty.

            Her pale eyes worked their way up the aisle as Quinlan guided her. People gaped at her, but most of it was wonder. They didn’t know she wasn’t wearing the dress she was supposed to. The people who would care were standing near the front. She knew they would be because that’s where the important people sat in weddings. Like her mother, who she could see leaning into the aisle to see her as she reached the halfway point.

            It made her heart leap and gave her steps more confidence.

            A smile spread her lips, and she looked back straight ahead and saw Arthur, turning to look at her now.

            He looked absolutely kingly.

            Arthur’s suit was sharper than the ones that Quinlan and Teagan wore, with more layers, but it was also augmented with fur and armor. She had imagined him wearing this, but she hadn’t drawn it out, and now she understood what Sanguine had meant by him wearing something similar to his garb. The metal was the same silver as hers, shielding his shoulders, but leaving the rest of him to the cloth. A black pelt fell down his back as a cape, hanging by a golden chain in front of his throat, taking the place of a tie.

            His beard had been trimmed close, shaped and combed, and the sides of his head and the back had been shaved nearly completely. But now he wore a crown very much like hers, matching the shape of the jagged crown, but instead of being made of silver or gold like hers, it was the same dark steel as the Prydwen.

            Her breathing stopped when he smiled and she nearly stumbled, meeting his eyes and seeing a hint of moisture as she drew closer. Quinlan helped her, kept her straight and steady, and finally they stood at the end of the orange runner, in front of the altar just steps away from Arthur.

            Behind her husband-to-be stood Sanguine, as the best man, his greatsword on his back just as it should be. Next to him was a white haired Sheogorath who wore the same uniform as the other Daedric Prince, but rather than daedric armor, he sported ebony. He was also armed and that was when Skaddi noticed Maxson had a daedric sword on his hip, glowing with what she assumed was a fire enchantment. Her lips parted, and she looked back up to see him smile wider.

            Quinlan took her hand, kissed her cheek, and then handed her over to Arthur who stepped down from the stairs to take her, his hands hot and steady, securing her shaking fingers in a strong hold.

            Skaddi kept her eyes from the crowd, knowing that one look at the wrong person would break any last confidence she had. They turned to the altar and climbed up the stairs together. She was told that Head Scribe Rothchild would lead the service, but he wasn’t here. Knight-Captain Cade stood on the other side of the altar, dressed in a fine suit with a long orange scarf falling down his shoulders. He smiled at her kindly and she felt even better now with the familiar face.

            The music ended and Cade nodded to her, “We can begin as soon as you hand your bouquet to your maid of honor.”

            “My…” she turned and paused, her brows drawn together as she looked at the woman beside her. She wore a silver dress that mirrored the one Skaddi had, and had golden armor that was a far more simple version of the Dragonborn’s. Her raven hair was worn long, down her back and straight, natural. The Skaal had seen this woman once before. “Nocturnal?”

            She smiled, a small, delicate thing and reached out to take the bouquet from the nord. “Been a while,” she said softly and then took a step back.

            Her mother, her three Daedra, Quinlan, Cade… Arthur… this was the wedding she would have planned for herself. She smiled, turn back to steel blue eyes.

            Cade lifted his hands and voice to start the ceremony.

 

 

            Skaddi and Arthur didn’t part from each other until the end of their first dance. His hands were firmly placed on her, holding her to him every chance he had, and rarely did his steely gaze leave her face. It made her flush, but that only made him smile more.

            The reception was also held outside in the brisk air –for which she was grateful as she was quite warm even in her thin cloth. A dance floor was circled with chairs and tables for all the guests to sit and eat while those who were planned to gave speeches. But what caught her eye as Arthur brought her to their head table, was the mass of gifts that were stacked high, piled as a neat barrier along the wall behind her and Arthur’s seats. Her pale gaze settled on the suit of power armor first, as it was different from anything she’d seen in this land, made of the correct dark metal, but styled in a way that looked like the shoulders had dragon’s wings resting on them, and the helmet was that of the beast’s skull. One of the gifts from the Daedra, and by the style, she would honestly have to say Sheogorath. The daedric greatsword on its back looked too much like Sanguine’s to belong to another. Before she could locate the gift from Nocturnal, her seat was pulled out, and her back put to the presents.

            The guests spoke highly of Arthur, many of his men coming forward to tell happy –with occasional embarrassing– stories that made Skaddi turn to her husband and laugh, seeing his ears turn red and his smile grow shy. To counter this, Quinlan took the opportunity to stand up and tell them of laughable stories she’d told him for his research, making sure she was well aware he told her when she shared them that he would be telling as many people as possible and now was the perfect time.

            Then her mother spoke, telling everyone of how Skaddi grew up different from the other Skaal children and always seemed to belong to another world. And now she knew why. She had a piece of herself in this land and had to find it. It made the Dragonborn smile and cry, and Arthur squeezed her hand, giving her cheek a kiss.

            Elder McNamara was the only of the other Elders who didn’t send passive aggressive shots toward her and Arthur, to which she decided she liked the man, as much as she could from their limited interactions.

            And after the speeches Arthur brought her forward to dance. The first dance was for the newly weds in this land, while in Skaal Village everyone danced together to show the couple was not alone, they had family, and that family was there for them, and then they would part, allowing the bride and groom to dance unaccompanied.

            Once their dance ended, she was told she had to dance with Quinlan –normally her father– and Arthur would dance with his mother. She had passed away when he was young, though, so Skaddi’s mother took her place, dancing with her new son with a wide, prideful smile. The Skaal women had yet to talk to one another since the ceremony, but from the glimpses she got of her mother while Arthur spun her skillfully around the dance floor, she approved of her daughter’s new husband.

            She did not know this dance style, but Quinlan did a good job of leading her, telling her where to step, and keeping her eyes from drifting to anyone in the crowd that could ruin her mood. It kept her smiling, and happy, and she laughed when she stepped on the Proctor’s toes, though he only grinned back.

            When that song came to an end, the music shifted, and Skaddi immediately recognized it to be the music of her tribe. Her pale eyes searched the crowd until she saw Nocturnal standing beside the band, directing them. They needed a singer, and before she could say anything, her mother’s voice filled the space, drawing all eyes to her.

            Addimira had always been the best singer in Skaal Village, and was often asked to lead wedding hymns and other celebrations. Skaddi loved to sing, but she never thought she was as good as her mother. Now, though, she joined the woman in the song of their people, swaying to mirror each other in the dance normally meant for the bride and groom.

            As they drew closer, Addimira grabbed Arthur’s hand and pulled him onto the dance floor, urging him to continue where she left off. He gave her a nod, and locked onto the movements Skaddi made, copying them so that they continued the ballet.

            The train of her dress had been pinned up behind her so it would not drag, and allowed her to move more freely. This let her do the turns and sways. A warrior’s dance, bringing together two hunters under the All-Maker. A faith she lost when she went to Skyrim, but a tradition she wanted to keep all the same.

            Toward the end of the song, she and Arthur were close, almost touching, circling each other, eyes locked, speaking without words. The burning behind his eyes told her he was enjoying this just as much as she was, and that made her smile wide, showing her teeth. The Skaal woman stopped, and the Elder copied. Then she leapt forward, and he caught her, lifting her up into a turn before setting her back down and pulling her into a kiss as her mother finished the song with a long, high note.

            The reception erupted into a spell of cheers and claps, and Skaddi beamed, feeling like she had just consumed the souls of seven dragons. This day was perfect. Everything had come together to be just what she wanted, what she needed.

            Arthur brushed tears from her cheeks, and she looked up at him.

            “I love you, Arthur Maxson.”

            “I love you, Skaddi Maxson.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did some research into the Skaal, but didn't find anything for weddings, so I took this as it felt, and this felt right. I wish I was better at drawing clothes because I would LOVE to have drawings of what the outfits looked like in my head, I hope no one thought it tacky because DAMN did it look SO cool in my mind....
> 
> I really hope you all enjoyed this ride! I have the the sequel up! It picks up with Reagan at the Police Station right before finding Danse, I wanted everyone to see that little interaction between her and Haylen and also Rhys as Rhys will remain important –because I love that bubble-butted asshole– and might have quite an important roll in the third book which will feature Arthur and Skaddi again. In the mean time, though, we have Reagan and Danse in Skyrim!
> 
> Thank you all so much for making it this far! This fiction was a long one, my longest, and my most well supported. Never be afraid to leave a comment with me, I will get back to you as soon as I can! I love all comments, even the ones that tell me I suck because I enjoy arguing ;D
> 
> Thank you! for reading! Kudos! Subscribing! Commenting! it all!
> 
> Have a great day!
> 
> I look forward to seeing you in another fic!


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